What do you think?
Rate this book
The Naturalist
A fascinating, moving novel based on the real life of Dr Ernst Dieffenbach: scientist, explorer, revolutionary, outcast.
Dieffenbach arrived in New Zealand in 1839 as a naturalist. What he discovered was fascinating, but what his prescient records didn’t reveal was his own intriguing story. As a young idealist, he had plotted a revolution in the name of equality. Imprisoned and then exiled, first from Giessen, then Strasbourg, then Zurich, he fled to London. He hoped to redeem his reputation by joining the expedition to New Zealand. But as he was to discover, the complexities of freedom, exile and equality could not be left behind.
Featuring Darwin, Charles Heaphy and the notorious Te Rauparaha, The Naturalist connects New Zealand’s past with world history and brings alive the story of this remarkable man.
Dieffenbach arrived in New Zealand in 1839 as a naturalist. What he discovered was fascinating, but what his prescient records didn’t reveal was his own intriguing story. As a young idealist, he had plotted a revolution in the name of equality. Imprisoned and then exiled, first from Giessen, then Strasbourg, then Zurich, he fled to London. He hoped to redeem his reputation by joining the expedition to New Zealand. But as he was to discover, the complexities of freedom, exile and equality could not be left behind.
Featuring Darwin, Charles Heaphy and the notorious Te Rauparaha, The Naturalist connects New Zealand’s past with world history and brings alive the story of this remarkable man.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2014
11 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Thom Conroy
6 books8 followersThom Conroy is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Massey University. His short fiction has appeared in various journals in the US and New Zealand, including Landfall, Sport, New England Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and Kenyon Review. He has won the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Fiction and his writing has been recognised by Best American Short Stories 2012 as well as the Sunday Star-Times Short Fiction Competition.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 13, 2019
‘A naturalist yearns to know Nature so that he may know himself.’
This fascinating novel is an historical fiction based on the real-life story of Ernst Dieffenbach (1811-1855), a German explorer, idealist, physician and scientist who was the first European scientist to live and work in New Zealand. Dr Dieffenbach himself is an absorbing and interesting character: his story, as written in this novel, provides an absorbing insight into the machinations of land acquisition in colonial New Zealand.
Ernst Dieffenbach is exiled from his home in Giessen in the Duchy of Hesse. He was an idealist who wanted to see the principalities which now make up Germany embrace democratic reform and he was foolish enough to become involved in an illegal duel. Consequently, he was briefly imprisoned and then banished. In London, thanks to his old teacher Schönlein, he is employed as a surgeon, surveyor and naturalist on the ’Tory’ in 1839 as an employee of the New Zealand Company. In September 1839 he arrives in New Zealand. He hopes to redeem himself by through his work, he hopes that such redemption will allow him to return home.
‘I must accomplish something.’
The ‘Tory’ is on a private expedition to New Zealand to buy land for settlement. Māori wars have dispossessed some of the Māori, European settlers will soon dispossess others.
The novel moves between Germany, London and New Zealand. Dieffenbach does not really belong anywhere: he is an outsider. He cannot marry Nora, the woman he cares for in London, because he has no money or status. He cannot return home to Giessen to live, he cannot settle in New Zealand. Dieffenbach, unlike most of his peers, is alert to the possibility that differences between peoples depending on their circumstances:
‘If we have examined step by step the physical history of the human race—if we have entered the wigwam of the Red Indian, and followed the hunter in obtaining the scanty means of his precarious existence—if we have endured an Arctic winter in the snow hut of the Esquimaux, and have ceased to sneer at him, when we find that no other life was possible under the circumstances in which he is placed —in one word, if we have traced Humanity through all the forms, simple and complicated, rude or civilized, of social existence, and have found that in each state there is something recommendable, then, and not until then shall we treat with consideration those who differ from us, instead of warring against individualities and forms which are not the same as our own.'
A powerful novel, highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This fascinating novel is an historical fiction based on the real-life story of Ernst Dieffenbach (1811-1855), a German explorer, idealist, physician and scientist who was the first European scientist to live and work in New Zealand. Dr Dieffenbach himself is an absorbing and interesting character: his story, as written in this novel, provides an absorbing insight into the machinations of land acquisition in colonial New Zealand.
Ernst Dieffenbach is exiled from his home in Giessen in the Duchy of Hesse. He was an idealist who wanted to see the principalities which now make up Germany embrace democratic reform and he was foolish enough to become involved in an illegal duel. Consequently, he was briefly imprisoned and then banished. In London, thanks to his old teacher Schönlein, he is employed as a surgeon, surveyor and naturalist on the ’Tory’ in 1839 as an employee of the New Zealand Company. In September 1839 he arrives in New Zealand. He hopes to redeem himself by through his work, he hopes that such redemption will allow him to return home.
‘I must accomplish something.’
The ‘Tory’ is on a private expedition to New Zealand to buy land for settlement. Māori wars have dispossessed some of the Māori, European settlers will soon dispossess others.
The novel moves between Germany, London and New Zealand. Dieffenbach does not really belong anywhere: he is an outsider. He cannot marry Nora, the woman he cares for in London, because he has no money or status. He cannot return home to Giessen to live, he cannot settle in New Zealand. Dieffenbach, unlike most of his peers, is alert to the possibility that differences between peoples depending on their circumstances:
‘If we have examined step by step the physical history of the human race—if we have entered the wigwam of the Red Indian, and followed the hunter in obtaining the scanty means of his precarious existence—if we have endured an Arctic winter in the snow hut of the Esquimaux, and have ceased to sneer at him, when we find that no other life was possible under the circumstances in which he is placed —in one word, if we have traced Humanity through all the forms, simple and complicated, rude or civilized, of social existence, and have found that in each state there is something recommendable, then, and not until then shall we treat with consideration those who differ from us, instead of warring against individualities and forms which are not the same as our own.'
A powerful novel, highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
February 19, 2015
I should definitely preface my review with the disclaimer that I was predisposed to love this book, being a plant ecologist and recent immigrant to NZ, thus knowing just enough about the country's history, geography, and ecology, not to mention both the Maori and English names for organisms and places, that I think I got more out of it than someone who has never been to NZ. That said, I think anyone interested in colonial and natural history would enjoy this book, but would have a much different experience of reading it.
I'm sure it is a romanticised version of the past (it is fiction, though based quite thoroughly in accounts of multiple historical figures), but it is interesting to note that certain "radical" views were held by prominent educated figures in the mid-1800s, most notably the basic equality of all humanity. Not everyone held this view, not even all scientists; and I find it gives both a bit of hope and despair -- how can we not yet have understood Dieffenbach and Humboldt's words that all people do have the same aptitude and capabilities, just different imaginations and culture?
I was sometimes annoyed with the Dieffenbach character's arrogance, particularly in juxtaposition with his professed amazement at the arrogance of the others on the expedition party. But his story is an interesting one, and the imagery of a pre-colonial New Zealand is quite moving. Considering the continued controversy over both Maori rights and national conservation efforts, this book remains timely as well.
I'm sure it is a romanticised version of the past (it is fiction, though based quite thoroughly in accounts of multiple historical figures), but it is interesting to note that certain "radical" views were held by prominent educated figures in the mid-1800s, most notably the basic equality of all humanity. Not everyone held this view, not even all scientists; and I find it gives both a bit of hope and despair -- how can we not yet have understood Dieffenbach and Humboldt's words that all people do have the same aptitude and capabilities, just different imaginations and culture?
I was sometimes annoyed with the Dieffenbach character's arrogance, particularly in juxtaposition with his professed amazement at the arrogance of the others on the expedition party. But his story is an interesting one, and the imagery of a pre-colonial New Zealand is quite moving. Considering the continued controversy over both Maori rights and national conservation efforts, this book remains timely as well.
November 1, 2014
This book stayed with me after reading it - because its subtlety. I loved the writing and the evocation of place - uncolonised New Zealand, pre that destruction; the whole examination of the moment when a country is about to be overwhelmed, how fragile things are. Also, how fragile life is. The main character, Dieffenbach is a historical figure, so the 'plot' is a given; in a solely imagined novel he wouldn't have died too soon to get back to New Zealand. His sensibility is Thom Conroy's achievement, I kept thinking, yes, it must have been like that being a European arriving in New Zealand. Interesting.
April 30, 2016
3.5. Smoothly written, incorporating historical jumps, incidents, characters, and places, and discussing colonization, equality, the importance of science, and Aboriginal issues.
Longer review to come.
Longer review to come.
May 22, 2019
he Naturalist was fascinating. Fascinating as a study of character, and fascinating as an introduction to the colonial history of New Zealand. The novel is historical fiction to correct the injustice of a history that has been unvoiced: it tells the story of illegal land acquisition but also the story of at least one man who respected the Māori and their customs—but ultimately was powerless to change the course of events. The Naturalist is based on the real life story of Ernst Dieffenbach (1811-1855), a German physician, geologist and naturalist, and the first scientist to live and work in New Zealand. The book tells the story of his travails as a subversive in Giessen in the Duchy of Hesse, his brief imprisonment and exile in London, and his subsequent voyage to New Zealand as an employee of the New Zealand Company and his attempts to rehabilitate his reputation and return home.
Conroy presents this complex character as an idealist who wanted Germany to emulate the democratic reforms of England and France. Ernst imprudently gets involved in an illegal duel too, and what with one thing and another he has to leave what was then not Germany but a patchwork of principalities. (Unification under Bismarck had to wait until 1871, thirty years after Ernst died; democratic reform took even longer). The authorities take a very dim view of Ernst’s activities, and the exile’s lament for his lost home is a poignant theme throughout the novel.
In London Ernst schemes to regain his reputation and the possibility of being allowed home, by making a name for himself. He had studied medicine in Zurich but became fascinated by what was then called natural history, and thanks to the influence of his old teacher Schönlein, in 1839 he gets a berth on the Tory as a ship’s surgeon, surveyor and naturalist. The Tory is a private expedition to New Zealand to buy land for settlement. It is not endorsed by Queen Victoria; she’s turning a blind eye to it, but everyone knows that the land will be acquired one way or another, legally or otherwise. (The Treaty of Waitangi had not yet been negotiated.) Ernst has a higher grasp of ethics than the other members of the expedition but he has to be circumspect in voicing his concerns because he is the outsider in the group. Some of the crew loathe him just because he is German…
In London Ernst formed an attachment to Nora because she has a keen mind and she is impressed by his ideas, but he can’t possibly marry her because he has no money, no career, and no place in society. In New Zealand where mores are different, he grows fond of Hariata, a slave offered to him in gratitude for saving the life of a chieftain’s wife. In one of many ironies in the novel, Ernst is not the only exile: at this stage the Māori have not been driven out of their homes by settlers, but rather have been forced from their homeland in Māori wars, while others are enslaved. A former American slave aboard the Tory has no home to go to either, and Nahiti, the interpreter and guide who went off with Europeans for adventure, is afraid to go home because he has talked up his status as a prince, and fears the consequences when his own people find out.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/05/22/t...
Conroy presents this complex character as an idealist who wanted Germany to emulate the democratic reforms of England and France. Ernst imprudently gets involved in an illegal duel too, and what with one thing and another he has to leave what was then not Germany but a patchwork of principalities. (Unification under Bismarck had to wait until 1871, thirty years after Ernst died; democratic reform took even longer). The authorities take a very dim view of Ernst’s activities, and the exile’s lament for his lost home is a poignant theme throughout the novel.
In London Ernst schemes to regain his reputation and the possibility of being allowed home, by making a name for himself. He had studied medicine in Zurich but became fascinated by what was then called natural history, and thanks to the influence of his old teacher Schönlein, in 1839 he gets a berth on the Tory as a ship’s surgeon, surveyor and naturalist. The Tory is a private expedition to New Zealand to buy land for settlement. It is not endorsed by Queen Victoria; she’s turning a blind eye to it, but everyone knows that the land will be acquired one way or another, legally or otherwise. (The Treaty of Waitangi had not yet been negotiated.) Ernst has a higher grasp of ethics than the other members of the expedition but he has to be circumspect in voicing his concerns because he is the outsider in the group. Some of the crew loathe him just because he is German…
In London Ernst formed an attachment to Nora because she has a keen mind and she is impressed by his ideas, but he can’t possibly marry her because he has no money, no career, and no place in society. In New Zealand where mores are different, he grows fond of Hariata, a slave offered to him in gratitude for saving the life of a chieftain’s wife. In one of many ironies in the novel, Ernst is not the only exile: at this stage the Māori have not been driven out of their homes by settlers, but rather have been forced from their homeland in Māori wars, while others are enslaved. A former American slave aboard the Tory has no home to go to either, and Nahiti, the interpreter and guide who went off with Europeans for adventure, is afraid to go home because he has talked up his status as a prince, and fears the consequences when his own people find out.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/05/22/t...
January 24, 2016
There was a patch towards the end that I really began to getting a sense of the complexities of Ernst. But for too much of the book, which is long, it read like a simple travelogue with some history thrown in, and much too much viewed with hindsight rather than with eyes of the time. An interesting period to get to know all the same.
April 7, 2020
Ernst Dieffenbach is best remembered by trampers as the first European to scale Mt Taranaki. Of Germanic origin, Dieffenbach was employed as the naturalist aboard the Tory, the ship that in 1839 carried the Wakefields from England to New Zealand. Under the auspices of the New Zealand Company, the Wakefields intended to buy land from Maori, in preparation for large-scale immigration to the Antipodes. The Wakefields did not have official sanction from the Queen, and had pre-sold sections to prospective English settlers before they had even purchased one sod of soil.
Dieffenbach spent 18 months here, and later wrote a two-volume account called Travels in New Zealand. Unlike Charles Darwin, who felt that many indigenous peoples, including Maori, were probably doomed to extinction in the face of advancing ‘civilisation’, Dieffenbach took a much more liberal view, and ever since has been celebrated as a man well ahead of his time. In this engaging novel about him, Thom Conroy paints a vivid picture of the turbulent times of this vital period in New Zealand history. Te Rauparaha, based at Kapiti Island, had already done his worst ravaging other iwi with musket-armed waka raids, but was far from a spent force; the whalers and missionaries had toeholds in New Zealand, and the Wakefields presented yet another potent agent of change.
As well as climbing Taranaki, which some historians rate as the first real mountaineering trip in New Zealand, Dieffenbach also explored the Hutt Valley, parts of the Marlborough Sounds, and made a collection of rock samples, native birds and other aspects of nature. After the Tory returned to England, Dieffenbach lived in London, where he struggled to find employment, but was eventually repatriated to his native Giessen. He died young, aged only 44. That much is well known about the naturalist.
Conroy tackles this historic novel with an unconventional narrative; one that flits between places and times. In the hands of someone less skilled, this could have been confusing at best and a disaster at worst, but Conroy makes it work exceedingly well. Indeed, the mixed chronology serves as a useful device for much of the reflection and tension in the novel.
Dieffenbach’s difficult relationship with Jerningham Wakefield is particularly well developed, as is his friendship with the Tory translator, Nahiti, and his climbing companion Worser Heberley. I especially enjoyed the section that deals with the climb of Taranaki: ‘In single file, Ernst and Worser Heberley began the final ascent of the volcanic cone. They climbed a narrow ridgeline, bordered on each side by a sheer escarpment and blacked in places by shards of rock spewed from the mountain in ages past. … Below them, the surface of the mountain swayed as mists of snow scattered down the slope. Here and there, spots of distant green of blue appeared and almost as quickly vanished again.’
Conroy has a flock of kea in the North Island, when it should be kaka; but that’s a very minor quibble in an otherwise accomplished and fascinating novel. Anyone interested in New Zealand history, or natural history, will enjoy The Naturalist.
Dieffenbach spent 18 months here, and later wrote a two-volume account called Travels in New Zealand. Unlike Charles Darwin, who felt that many indigenous peoples, including Maori, were probably doomed to extinction in the face of advancing ‘civilisation’, Dieffenbach took a much more liberal view, and ever since has been celebrated as a man well ahead of his time. In this engaging novel about him, Thom Conroy paints a vivid picture of the turbulent times of this vital period in New Zealand history. Te Rauparaha, based at Kapiti Island, had already done his worst ravaging other iwi with musket-armed waka raids, but was far from a spent force; the whalers and missionaries had toeholds in New Zealand, and the Wakefields presented yet another potent agent of change.
As well as climbing Taranaki, which some historians rate as the first real mountaineering trip in New Zealand, Dieffenbach also explored the Hutt Valley, parts of the Marlborough Sounds, and made a collection of rock samples, native birds and other aspects of nature. After the Tory returned to England, Dieffenbach lived in London, where he struggled to find employment, but was eventually repatriated to his native Giessen. He died young, aged only 44. That much is well known about the naturalist.
Conroy tackles this historic novel with an unconventional narrative; one that flits between places and times. In the hands of someone less skilled, this could have been confusing at best and a disaster at worst, but Conroy makes it work exceedingly well. Indeed, the mixed chronology serves as a useful device for much of the reflection and tension in the novel.
Dieffenbach’s difficult relationship with Jerningham Wakefield is particularly well developed, as is his friendship with the Tory translator, Nahiti, and his climbing companion Worser Heberley. I especially enjoyed the section that deals with the climb of Taranaki: ‘In single file, Ernst and Worser Heberley began the final ascent of the volcanic cone. They climbed a narrow ridgeline, bordered on each side by a sheer escarpment and blacked in places by shards of rock spewed from the mountain in ages past. … Below them, the surface of the mountain swayed as mists of snow scattered down the slope. Here and there, spots of distant green of blue appeared and almost as quickly vanished again.’
Conroy has a flock of kea in the North Island, when it should be kaka; but that’s a very minor quibble in an otherwise accomplished and fascinating novel. Anyone interested in New Zealand history, or natural history, will enjoy The Naturalist.
June 8, 2024
A fascinating novel based on a perspective not often considered, that of those actually there at this time in the history of Aotearoa. This book is also an emotional roller coaster ride. Not only around the highs and lows of Dr Ernst Dieffenbach's own life; but on what happened from 1839 onwards in terms of people and land. In a way, an essay on colonisation and land clearance. The last part really hit home for me - being privileged to live in the country as Pakeha, but at what cost? What cost to Maori and especially what cost to the environment. Perhaps this is the story of humanity? I wonder if we will ever learn?
January 22, 2020
This book was mostly really good. The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is because the main character had so many deep moments - looking at a new colony and thinking 'it's the beginning of the end of the old ways' or looking at a view and thinking 'this will all change' - that it got repetitive. The author tried a bit too hard sometimes and made the main character come across as pretentious. But for the most part the book awoke the imagination to memories of tramping though New Zealand bush, and it was certainly interesting in a historic way.
February 18, 2018
I, like another reviewer was probably predisposed to love this book, nonetheless I enjoyed every page. If you are interested in New Zealand’s history and Flora and Fauna then this is a fantastic book to read. I also loved the style in which it was written. The dialogue was convincingly of different time as were all the characters. Highly enjoyable.
June 26, 2017
Fascinating book. Fascinating story. A must read
July 28, 2020
Dull, wooden and didactic to start with, but greatly improved by the end. The passages about Te Rauparaha, in particular, are vividly rendered.
October 27, 2020
Thanks, Thom Conroy! I had fun reading your book AND learning about New Zealand's colonisation.
May 28, 2025
The story just didn't keep me interested. I put the book aside and never returned.
January 4, 2015
The book promised a lot on the back cover but it made a slow start. Consequently, I almost tossed it for something more exciting. Then suddenly in the chapter about Giessen, Ernst Dieffenbach's homeland, the story begins to stir. After that I was curious about this man who followed his strong beliefs to explore the natural world and its people in New Zealand (NZ). This is an important book for not only New Zealand but also for the world. Colonisation is wrong and comes from greed and a sense of entitlement. Yet members of the human race are still trying to take over land that is not theirs to take just so they can make a buck. What the British did to NZ was tragic. We are lucky that the Treaty of Waitangi has allowed us to retain some dignity for the indigenous people but it is not enough. Dieffenbach was ahead of his time and it was his beliefs and his integrity that led to the many challenges he encountered in his short life. The story is told carefully and factually but it is told without passion, and therefore, I felt no emotional attachment to the characters or the tragic circumstances. Even so, the book has inspired me to find out more about the volumes that Dieffenbach produced as a result of his explorations in NZ - Travels in New Zealand. Worth a read but don't expect too much.
March 29, 2017
This was an interesting story and I learnt some new things about the colonisation of my country. However it was a bit of a slog. The book calls itself, "A Novel" but it reads more like a biography. I never felt I was seeing the world through Ernst Diffenbach's eyes. I constantly felt I was being told about what he was seeing.
Interesting, but another book that didn't live up to it's promise this year.
(I'm including this in my 2016 shelf as I read most of it in 2016)
Interesting, but another book that didn't live up to it's promise this year.
(I'm including this in my 2016 shelf as I read most of it in 2016)
February 7, 2016
Generally I prefer to read non-fiction rather than historical fiction, but I found Thom Conroy's The Naturalist held my interest and made me want to read more about Ernst Dieffenbach and his time in New Zealand. I appreciated the author's endnotes which explained some of his sources as I finished wanting to know what was based on fact and what imagined.
February 19, 2015
I enjoyed the book, mostly because a couple of the characters feature in the history of the place where I grew up. It was interesting to read of some of their other exploits here in New Zealand
June 18, 2015
The ending was lame and overdramatic. Everything else was very interesting and engaging.
January 17, 2016
Fictionalised biography in early NZ
September 14, 2015
I enjoyed the writing style. And the way the natural history was woven into the story
Read
January 13, 2019Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews