The bleak coal-mining settlement of Denniston, isolated high on a plateau above New Zealand's West Coast, is a place that makes or breaks those who live there. At the time of this novel - the 1880s - the only way to reach the makeshift collection of huts, tents and saloons is to climb aboard an e...
When she moved into the derelict house down the road, he had walked over to say hello and offer some of his potatoes. She had been sunning her large belly on the back veranda; had startled and frozen to see him stumping down the path. She looked so frightened that he stood stock still, as he woul...
He was a farmer who had recently married and brought his wife over from Nelson to live with him. They were good, hardworking English folk who befriended us — particularly George and me and Mary the nursemaid, as we were no help at all in the repairing of Black Diamond. While Bully shouted orders ...
She still taught at the school. Her idea to use a chain and hook on the coal boxes was taken seriously. Brennan himself experimented, with the help of the engineering shop and a team of young clippies. Soon all the lads were practising snaking the chain around the moving wire rope, then hooking i...
A fascinating prospect. Simone, down in the garden, straightened up and shaded her eyes against the blinding sea. My wife would not wear a hat, had never worn one, even to church, which was an outrage to the Samoan congregation. But that was Simone. She would shrug her shoulders – very Gallic, ev...