The Remarkable Mrs Reibey

As a teenage orphan in England in 1791, Mary Reibey was sentenced to death for stealing a horse. When police cornered her, she was dressed as a boy, and she maintained that disguise until she was unmasked at her trial. Due to her 'tender age', Reibey was spared the hangman's noose and sentenced to seven years' transportation to the colony of New South Wales. With the odds stacked against her, Reibey went on to become Australia's first female business tycoon and the richest woman in the colony, founding the Bank of New South Wales (Westpac), now one of the nation's biggest financial institutions.

In this engaging and meticulously researched portrait, the acclaimed author of bestsellers such as Mrs Kelly, Banks, Banjo and Monash, brings to life the woman immortalised on the Australian $20 note.