irnbru14

When you have finished this first book, may I suggest the Edmonds Cook Book as essential NZ reading...

weejie

Just arrived,have 2 hours to sit at judo classes tonight so will try to start it then,miss

Phyl x

scrubbedexpat094

I've got that one

j19fmm

OK, forced myself to lie out in the sun all day Sunday and finished the book. How proud am I?

BEVS

You should be.

How did you find the book as a whole and the ending?

j19fmm

Storyline came as a bit of a shock and my initial thought was 'I don't want to read this' then I wanted to know more. Ending was a let down I thought. Suddenly reverted to an aga-saga happy all round job!!

weejie

Don't tell me anymore,only started it and didn't get much reading done at weekend as I had planned

maybe should avoid this thread until I read more

Phyl x

j19fmm

Sorry Phyl, was trying to be non-specific!! Keep with it

BEVS

Poops.

Will shut me gob and wait for you.

Enjoy.

weejie

Right,finished today! Really enjoyed the book but cannot say why My favourite character was Simon. Found some of it hard going but like j19fmm wanted to keep going to find out more. Thought the ending was poor compared to the rest of the book,was ready for something more dramatic. Thanks for the recommendation AM. Next.

Phyl x

Am Loolah

Well done folks - so just waiting to see if Sarah has finished it? I may have to give her detention if she doesn't come to me with an update on progress soon ...

I loved the language and vocabulary - I found her writing particularly good at creating such vivid pictures for me. I could live in that tower, least the one I built in my imagination!

Next one - you want another Kiwiesque or something else?

j19fmm

Up for any suggestions, only 15 more reports to write then I'm free!!!!

Batty

The Colour by Rose Tremaine For two reasons, 1, I've read it and 2. although some people have said it's not factually entirely correct, it's really very good

Oh - she's not a Kiwi - English I think - but it's set in the South Island in the Gold Rush.

Rustie

Ooooh, what about the Denniston Rose by Jenny Pattrick? I bought it ages ago but haven't read it yet, and it sounds really good!

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 - the1880s - the only way to reach the makeshift collection of huts, tents and saloons is to climb aboard an empty coal-wagon to be hauled 2000 feet up the terrifyingly steep Incline - the cable-haulage system that brings the coal down to the railway line. All sorts arrive here to work the mines and bring down the coal: ex-goldminers down on their luck; others running from the law or from a woman or worse. They work alongside recruited English miners, solid and skilled, who scorn these disorganised misfits and want them off the Hill. Into this chaotic community come five-year-old Rose and her mother, riding up the Incline, at night, during a storm. No one knows what has driven them there, but most agree the mother must be desperate to choose Denniston; worse, to choose that drunkard, Jimmy Cork, as bedfellow. The mother has her reasons and her plans, which she tells no one. The indomitable Rose is left to fend for herself, struggling to secure a place in this tough and often aggressive community.The Denniston Rose is about isolation and survival. It is the story of a spirited child, who, in appalling conditions, remains a survivor.

About the Author

Jenny Pattrick is a best-selling author and is also known as a jeweller. She has been President of the Crafts Council of New Zealand, chaired the Boards of Creative New Zealand, the New Zealand Drama School and the NZ School of Dance, and for the last four International Festivals in Wellington has chaired the Writers and Readers Festival Committee

BEVS

I know we are waiting for Sarah before commenting on the first book so will hold my whisht about the book until she calls in.

I'll go with either Rustie's or Batty's choice. Both sound really good to me.