The Company Daughters

By Samantha Rajaram,

Book cover of The Company Daughters

Book description

‘Blew my mind… so magically written and most of all that it is based on true events… a hard-hitting, soul-crushing book… I loved every moment of it… immersive, heart-wrenching, I feel emotional writing this review.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

Wanted: Company Daughters. Virtuous young ladies to become the brides of…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Company Daughters as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

One of the characters of my novel goes to a Dutch colony, and I found this look at what that might be like particularly fascinating.

Rajaram gives us the intensely personal perspective of two young women, Jana and Sontje, who in 1620 Amsterdam have no way to make a living. They sign on to become “Company Daughters,” the company being the Dutch East India Company. Agreeing to travel to the other side of the world and marry men they have never met, the two women land in a place they had not imagined, and find a way to survive with…

From Rebecca's list on 17th-century women.

The Company Daughters was a great read and serves as a reminder that lesbians have been around forever, or at least since the 1600s when the story takes place. (Ha!) This is a love story, but a complicated one. Two Amsterdam women from wildly different circumstances are forced to sign on to be “company daughters” (aka brides of male settlers) in the Dutch outpost of Batavia in the East Indies. The women fall in love, yes, but their love involves renegotiating their original relationship: servant and mistress. I love tales that involve social status, especially when circumstances force it to…

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