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The Colour
by
Rose Tremain
"When newlyweds Joseph and Harriet Blackstone emigrate from England to New Zealand along with Joseph's mother, Lilian, they are in search of prosperous new beginnings. But they are ill-prepared for the obstacles they must face, and the harsh land near Christchurch where they settle threatens to destroy them almost before they can begin. A difficult first winter exacer...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
April 1st 2004
by Picador
(first published May 1st 2003)
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4.5 stars
The Colour is set in 1860s New Zealand, a time of mad rushing for gold as well as nation-building fueled by heavy immigration. Newlyweds Joseph and Harriet Blackstone arrive from England with Joseph's widowed mother Lillian in tow. Joseph acquires some land, builds a temporary house, and they begin the work of establishing a farm. But Joseph is distracted by gold fever after finding some of "the colour," and he is haunted by memories of the heinous act that led ...more
The Colour is set in 1860s New Zealand, a time of mad rushing for gold as well as nation-building fueled by heavy immigration. Newlyweds Joseph and Harriet Blackstone arrive from England with Joseph's widowed mother Lillian in tow. Joseph acquires some land, builds a temporary house, and they begin the work of establishing a farm. But Joseph is distracted by gold fever after finding some of "the colour," and he is haunted by memories of the heinous act that led ...more
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I recently became curious about Rose Tremain when she featured in a "Good Fiction Guide: 4000 Great Books to Read" and I realised I only knew about her, never actually read anything by her. So I picked up The Colour, published in 2003 already, from my book club. I now see in the reviews that the book is considered "distinctly different" from other Tremain books. My original object thus defeated.
But... what a treat it was!
"Deliberate, forthright, careful and c...more
But... what a treat it was!
"Deliberate, forthright, careful and c...more
An incredible story about the gold rush in Australia, beautifully written, the best Rose Tremaine I've read. Read it.
Ugh! This was one of those books that had a good beginning, about 70 pages or so, and then went tremendously downhill.
The novel follows a husband and wife who have decided to start anew in New Zealand in the mid-nineteenth century only to be thwarted at every turn and estranged. Blah blah blah.
So if that WAS the story it might have been an ok read. The writing was nothing impressive, but the initial renderings of the characters was well done.
And then the autho...more
The novel follows a husband and wife who have decided to start anew in New Zealand in the mid-nineteenth century only to be thwarted at every turn and estranged. Blah blah blah.
So if that WAS the story it might have been an ok read. The writing was nothing impressive, but the initial renderings of the characters was well done.
And then the autho...more
I'm one of those very superficial people for whom the setting of a novel is critical. I don't like, or am bored by, the country/city/region where the characters are flung, I don't read the book.
I even have prejudices against whole eras. Take the Upper South in the twentieth century. Please.
So it was with incredulity that I found myself reading with snowballing fascination and joy 'The Colour.' It's set in New Zealand in gold rush times---a seeming nonstarter for me, to put it mildly...more
I even have prejudices against whole eras. Take the Upper South in the twentieth century. Please.
So it was with incredulity that I found myself reading with snowballing fascination and joy 'The Colour.' It's set in New Zealand in gold rush times---a seeming nonstarter for me, to put it mildly...more
The Color, by Rose Tremain, narrated by Eleanor Bron, produced by BBC-WW, and downloaded from audible.com.
I have never read one of Tremain’s books, but this one is on the 1001 books to read list. Joseph Blackstone does not want to live in England now because of some trouble he got in over a young girl, so he decides to move to New Zealand. He finds a governess looking for a husband, and decides she will be a good wife to help him homestead in New Zealand. He also decides to uproot...more
I have never read one of Tremain’s books, but this one is on the 1001 books to read list. Joseph Blackstone does not want to live in England now because of some trouble he got in over a young girl, so he decides to move to New Zealand. He finds a governess looking for a husband, and decides she will be a good wife to help him homestead in New Zealand. He also decides to uproot...more
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The Colour is, on the surface, the story of a man and woman who flee England for different reasons to New Zealand in order to make their fortune. What could have been an ordinary, but hard life and... perhaps one of satisfaction and eventual comfort is taken away by a smattering of gold dust that appears in a trench that the man begins to build.
And so the fever for gold takes root. Joseph and Harriet are married and living with Joseph's mother in "The Cob House", a ricket...more
And so the fever for gold takes root. Joseph and Harriet are married and living with Joseph's mother in "The Cob House", a ricket...more
Holly
marked it as to-read
From musings: 4.5 stars. The story is told from alternating points of view with chapters narrated by Harriet, Joseph, and a couple of other characters who weave nicely into the storyline. Joseph turns out to be an arrogant and hapless loner, unable to relate to women and desperate to please his mother by accumulating wealth. Harriet is strong and independent, undaunted by Joseph’s failings and refusing to bow to societal expectations of women. It is only through Harriet’s intelligence that th...more
I read this book because it was the monthly choice of a Reading Group that I have just joined. I enjoy reading groups for many reasons, but mostly because they challenge me to read things that otherwise I wouldn't have read
For me this was a very good book with a great narrative and excellent characterisations. It's heartwarming and heart rending in equal measures. I would definitely consider reading more from Rose Tremain
For me this was a very good book with a great narrative and excellent characterisations. It's heartwarming and heart rending in equal measures. I would definitely consider reading more from Rose Tremain
The Colour was an interesting book. Beautifully written, it’s about a newlywed couple, Joseph and Harriet, who emigrate from the comforts of England to the wilds of gold rush-era New Zealand. With them is Lillian, Joseph’s mother, who resents everything about the move, but is dependent on her son for her livelihood. When Joseph discovers gold dust in the creek on their fledgling farm, he’s bitten by gold-rush fever and takes off to stake his claim, leaving Harriet and Lillian to fend for themse...more
I know so little of New Zealand's history...never realized there was a major gold rush there in the mid 19th century. What people will subject themselves to in the quest for gold, the obsession they have to strike it rich never ceases to amaze me. The real focus of the story, however, is the courage and stamina of a woman trapped in a bad marriage, stranded in the miserably harsh country near Christchurch when her husband turns out to be less than she expected. She is happier when he leaves f...more
Just finished this at Penny's suggestion. Not the sort of book I would normally read but very well written with a lot of depth. A young couple and the husband's mother emigrate to New Zealand to start a new life on a small holding in the middle of nowhere at some point in the 19th century. As the novel progesses it becomes clear that their relationship is fragile and, when the husband discovers some traces of gold on their small holding, he sets off for the gold fields on the west coast of the i...more
My mum raved about this, but I was not as gripped from the start as she was, but in the end I could not put it down. This is my fourth Rose Tremain and I'm amazed at how completely different each one is from the others. This one is set in New Zealand at the time of the Gold Rush. Joseph Blackstone takes his new wife Harriet and his mother Lillian to the New World to set up a farm. He gets a glimpse of 'the colour' in the water on his land and starts to pan for gold secretly. He then goes of...more
This book is a well-structured novel, as opposed to one of the poor docu-drama excuses for historical fiction that one sometimes happens to stumble across. The setting is the New Zealand gold rush of the mid-1800s, but the novel is an exploration of survival in a harsh landscape, human motivation, the ability or inability to love, the spiritual vs. physical world, and the capacity to recreate oneself. The writing is lush without being overbearing, and every character, every image, has resonance ...more
This book was about a woman who moved with her new husband to New Zealand from England sometime at the turn of the century (or earlier). It deals with the woman, Harriet, her struggles with her new marriage, her struggles with settling on frontier land, and finally deals with the desire of her husband to find gold. Who knew there was even a goldrush in New Zealand?? I never even gave it a thought until now. The gold rush parts are very interesting and historically eye opening. Harriet is a ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I didn't even know they had a gold rush in New Zealand, but apparently they did in the mid-nineteenth century, and this is the setting for The Colour.
The story follows a newly married couple who emigrate to New Zealand from Norfolk to start a new life. Dissatisfied with their humble existence, the husband becomes obsessed with gold, and sets off alone for the newly discovered southern gold fields, leaving his wife and mother behind to fend for themselves.
I've enjoyed R...more
The story follows a newly married couple who emigrate to New Zealand from Norfolk to start a new life. Dissatisfied with their humble existence, the husband becomes obsessed with gold, and sets off alone for the newly discovered southern gold fields, leaving his wife and mother behind to fend for themselves.
I've enjoyed R...more
I've read one other by Tremain - The way home - and loved it. This one I didn't love although it was well written. I couldn't bring myself to like any of the characters. I didn't understand why the wife wanted to go all the way to see her husband and tell him about his mother when she didn't like either of them. I never really felt the husband's obsession was as compulsive as we needed to believe. The setting was very good, however. I didn't know New Zealand had a gold rush!! The details of the ...more
Pretty sure that the gang in this book is the Sullivan gang - my great great grandfather took the statement of Sullivan if it is the same gang - need to read it again to make sure. Why didn't the main character go over Arthurs' Pass - easier route than one in book and am pretty sure it was known about in the early 1860s as the West Coast goldrush was the reason the road was put in wasn't it? Enjoyed the book but wasn't entirely convinced by it or her sense of place - did she visit the area? I...more
This was undoubtedly a well-written work with strong characterisations, setting and story-telling. After writing up my LIvejournal review yesterday, I realised that it had made a greater impact than I'd originally thought.
I was able to admire it for these reasons and yet still found it hard to warm to.
It probably was the setting. Something about the madness of gold fever and the deprivations faced by those infected with it just made the novel hard to read for me. Perhap...more
I was able to admire it for these reasons and yet still found it hard to warm to.
It probably was the setting. Something about the madness of gold fever and the deprivations faced by those infected with it just made the novel hard to read for me. Perhap...more
Rose Tremain has created a masterpiece around the sweeping winds and gold rush of New Zealand, 1913. When Joseph, Harriet, and Lillian Blackstone arrive in New Zealand they know nothing of the harshness that awaits them with the first winter. When Jospeh finds gold near their creek, he wants more and abandons his wife and his mother, Lillian, to stake his claim in the western part of the island. Since the marriage was never based on love, things begin to unravel. A mystical encounter with the Ma...more
The Colour pleased my heart and soul. Artistry in every sentence. At first, I thought this was set in the earliest days of English settlements in New Zealand, but it is mid-1850's, with a newly-wed couple and the husband's mother. The husband went ahead and built a cob house on just the windiest part of their upland plot on the South Island. The story unfolds with constant well-situated action, with character development and interior monologues never slowing the pace. Many characters, none ...more
My least favorite of the 3 Tremain novels I've read. A self-centered man takes his mother & new bride to New Zealand after being disgraced in England. They start by planning a farm, but the man eventually gives in to gold fever. His wife, who "carries herself well," proves to be the strong member of the famly. Like the family in Long for This World, this family struggles, though in very different ways, with greed. Though ostensibly an adventure story, it moves pretty slowly, dwelling, ...more
Three generations of men in my family have been/are involved in the gold mining industry. When I found a novel by Rose Tremain, a favourite author, about the 19th century gold rush of New Zealand, I had to buy it. And I’m glad I did!
Whether she’s describing the harsh wilderness that awaits the newly-wed English couple, Harriet and Joseph Blackstone, and Joseph’s mother Lilian, on their arrival; the dangerous man-made wilderness of a mining camp, or the toll both take on the human psyc...more
Whether she’s describing the harsh wilderness that awaits the newly-wed English couple, Harriet and Joseph Blackstone, and Joseph’s mother Lilian, on their arrival; the dangerous man-made wilderness of a mining camp, or the toll both take on the human psyc...more
I am giving this three stars, but after I think about it awhile, I might raise it to four stars. I am a fan of Rose Tremain's novels, and her books that I have read so far have widely differing locales, historical times and circumstances. In this novel, a newly married couple, and the man's mother, travel to New Zealand to start a new life, and be rid of the past. Joseph, the husband, has a shrouded secret and crime in England that he wants to leave behind. Harriet, the wife, is excited abou...more
I don't know why I didn't like this more, Rose Tremain writes really well, creating strong storylines and characters, but I just couldn't warm to most of them and found the story rather bleak and depressing.
The story starts with us learning about Joseph and why he is embarking on a journey half way around the world to set up home in New Zealand with his mother Lilian and his new wife Harriet (some of the reasons he left England are only darkly hinted at ... we have to learn them piec...more
The story starts with us learning about Joseph and why he is embarking on a journey half way around the world to set up home in New Zealand with his mother Lilian and his new wife Harriet (some of the reasons he left England are only darkly hinted at ... we have to learn them piec...more
Strong women may not usually capture the centre of attention in a wild west survival story - it's a men's world after all. Yet, Harriet deserves her spotlight! Set against the background of New Zealand's gold rush in the 1860s, Rose Tremain has crafted a memorable, vividly coloured historical drama, that revolves around immigrants Joseph Blackstone and his new wife, Harriet. New Zealand's spectacular landscapes and the country's havoc creating extreme weather vagaries, powerfully evoked througho...more
Choupette
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommended to Choupette by:
1001
Shelves:
historical-fiction
The saving grace of historical fiction is that thanks to the subject matter it is almost always interesting, despite the frequent lack of any literary merit.
It would be an unfair exaggeration to say that The Colour lacks any literary merit, but it wasn't great, to tell the truth. The plot was interesting enough: a Joseph Blackstone takes his wife, Harriet and mother, Lilian, to New Zealand at the time of the Gold Rush to start a new life. However, their small world of cows, trees and...more
It would be an unfair exaggeration to say that The Colour lacks any literary merit, but it wasn't great, to tell the truth. The plot was interesting enough: a Joseph Blackstone takes his wife, Harriet and mother, Lilian, to New Zealand at the time of the Gold Rush to start a new life. However, their small world of cows, trees and...more
Little is known outside the South Pacific of New Zealand's mid-19th century gold rush that brought thousands of hopefuls to the Land of the Long White Cloud. The setting is as strong a character in this stark, beautiful and tragic novel as its human protagonists.
Tremain gracefully weaves a myriad of cultures- desperate and brave British immigrants, Maori mystics, hardy pakeha locals who watch with rueful humor at the missteps of the recently arrived, resourceful Chinese. These many ...more
Tremain gracefully weaves a myriad of cultures- desperate and brave British immigrants, Maori mystics, hardy pakeha locals who watch with rueful humor at the missteps of the recently arrived, resourceful Chinese. These many ...more
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Rose Tremain is the author of fifteen works of fiction, including The Road Home, winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, and Restoration, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She lives in Norfolk and north London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Tremai...
More about Rose Tremain...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Tremai...
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