In the Land of the Long White Cloud
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Romance
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Romance
Book Type: Paperback
I was shocked when I received this book, it was OVER 800 pages long and it has been ages since I read "War and Peace" or the "Twilight" saga (ha-ha)! The length nearly scared me away from this book, but I kept drudging through, as I have ties to the Christchurch area of gorgeous New Zealand.
Imagine that you are a governess living in London during the 1850s and you don't have any appealing prospects for marriage and to top it off, you are getting very tired of paying for your brother's education. Then one day you see an ad in a church paper, from a gentleman that is looking for a good wife, the only requirement is that you must move to New Zealand. Such is our first main character Helen Davenport. Or fancy that, you are the daughter of a Welsh sheep rancher and you hate the typical womanly duties, you'd prefer to ride horses and train Border Collies all day, but your father doesn't approve. So, he gambles your hand in marriage to a nomadic sheep baron's son. You start to think New Zealand and a sheep farm are looking pretty good. Such is our other main character Gwyneira Silkham.
Gwyneira and Helen end up meeting on the ship to Christchurch, New Zealand. Naturally, when the women arrive in Christchurch, what they find isn't exactly what was advertised in the church newspaper. Helen's future husband, Howard O'Keefe, is not the gentleman farmer he pretended to be; instead Howard is living in the shadow of Gerald Warden, who is Gwyn's future father-in-law. Howard and Gerald have had an argument many years in the past and the two men hate each other. Gwyn's betrothed, Gerald's son, Lucas, is a decent man, but, he prefers to paint and garden rather than learn the sheep business.
Helen and Gwyn struggle to maintain their friendship in secret while dealing with their separate marital struggles. Both of these women are tough and long-suffering while the men in their lives seem at times to be self-righteous and irritated.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, as long as it was. New Zealand's lush landscape was described so clearly I could just see it in my mind. The native people and the culture were also both vividly described. Though, unless you are interested in New Zealand's colonial day's you might find yourself struggling to stay engrossed in this long story which at times got a bit wordy.
Imagine that you are a governess living in London during the 1850s and you don't have any appealing prospects for marriage and to top it off, you are getting very tired of paying for your brother's education. Then one day you see an ad in a church paper, from a gentleman that is looking for a good wife, the only requirement is that you must move to New Zealand. Such is our first main character Helen Davenport. Or fancy that, you are the daughter of a Welsh sheep rancher and you hate the typical womanly duties, you'd prefer to ride horses and train Border Collies all day, but your father doesn't approve. So, he gambles your hand in marriage to a nomadic sheep baron's son. You start to think New Zealand and a sheep farm are looking pretty good. Such is our other main character Gwyneira Silkham.
Gwyneira and Helen end up meeting on the ship to Christchurch, New Zealand. Naturally, when the women arrive in Christchurch, what they find isn't exactly what was advertised in the church newspaper. Helen's future husband, Howard O'Keefe, is not the gentleman farmer he pretended to be; instead Howard is living in the shadow of Gerald Warden, who is Gwyn's future father-in-law. Howard and Gerald have had an argument many years in the past and the two men hate each other. Gwyn's betrothed, Gerald's son, Lucas, is a decent man, but, he prefers to paint and garden rather than learn the sheep business.
Helen and Gwyn struggle to maintain their friendship in secret while dealing with their separate marital struggles. Both of these women are tough and long-suffering while the men in their lives seem at times to be self-righteous and irritated.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, as long as it was. New Zealand's lush landscape was described so clearly I could just see it in my mind. The native people and the culture were also both vividly described. Though, unless you are interested in New Zealand's colonial day's you might find yourself struggling to stay engrossed in this long story which at times got a bit wordy.
