Set in New South Wales in the early 1800s, Sarah Thornhill, by Kate Grenville (Text), is a tale told by Sarah (called Dolly by her family). Her illiteracy adds to this story about love and family with a strong reference to early New Zealand and Australian pioneers and natives.
Sarah is the youngest daughter of William Thornhill, a transported convict now "an old colonist" who has family, land and money.
Sarah's first love, Jack Langland, was raised by his father and stepmother, his real mother "a darkie, long dead".
Jack is best mates with Will, Sarah's brother, and when Will and his wife drown, Jack brings their orphaned daughter (of half Maori descent) to live with the Thornhill family, but young Rachel pines for her native family and never really settles.
Jack then wants to take Rachel back to her homeland New Zealand but events conspire to separate Jack and Sarah.
I found this sequel to The Secret River an enjoyable and sometimes amusing insight into what life might have been like for early Australian and New Zealand settlers, although I did find the ending a bit disappointing.
- Raylene Myhill
A cherry orchard in Central Otago is the setting for Michelle Holman's romantic novel Hand Me Down (HarperCollins paperback). April Ritchie had lived at Aurora until thrown out on her 17th birthday. She has returned, seeking the heritage her grandmother has left there for her, but the situation is complicated because her family no longer lives there.
Then there's the trickier issue of Aurora's new owner, Tarn Elliott, whose reputation she ruined nine years earlier. That, added to April's heritage, ensures a fresh, lively read for chit-lit lovers from a talented New Zealand writer.
- Gillian Vine
Despite being an excellent storyteller, Australian Monica McInerney seems to be struggling with Lola's Secret (Michael Joseph paperback), the latest story about the Quinlan family. Lola Quinlan is 84 and is being left over Christmas at the family motel in South Australia's Clare Valley, while her son and daughter-in-law take a break.
The motel is supposed to be closed over Christmas but Lola has other ideas and the people she invites are portrayed in vignettes dotted throughout the book. A pleasant enough story, Lola's Secret does, however, fall well short of McInerney's best, particularly her outstanding novel, At Home With the Templetons.
- Gillian Vine
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