A Good Keen Girl

by Barry Crump

'A Good Keen Girl, that's what you need,' said Bert Shamles to Kersey Hooper, who was breaking in the desolate Blackrange Station without benefit of a matrimonial helpmate. They'd all had a go at the Blackrange - every organisation from East Coast Acclimatisation Society to the Wairapakau-North Ladies' Tatting Enthusiats' Guild. None of them had made any headway. But Kersey hooper did, in his own special way and in his own time. He could handle dogs; he could handle stock; he could handle Blackrange. But could he handle the good keen girl whom he brought home as the Mistress of Blackrange Station? ===Barry Crump has been New Zealand's bestselling author for more that 30 years. "A Good Keen Girl" is another classic yarn from the mater storyteller that will delight dedicated fans and new generations of readers alike.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 1997

About the author

New Zealand author of semi-autobiographical comic novels based on his image as a rugged outdoors man.

Crump worked for many years as a government deer-culler in areas of New Zealand native forest (termed "the bush"). He wrote his first novel, A Good Keen Man, in 1960, based on his experiences as a government hunter. It was a fictional account of a young hunter who has to suffer through a series of hunting partners who are often unsuitable for the job. This novel became one of the most popular in New Zealand history,

Crump died in 1996 of a suspected aortic aneurysm. At the time of his death he was living at Ohauiti with his fifth wife, Maggie.

abridged from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Daren]

Barry Crumps best books tell the story of hunting, farming and rural life in general, and they always have good characters, more clever, or more lucky than they perhaps deserve. When he veers away from that successful recipe, I enjoy his books less.
This one is one of his best. Excellent.

[Fraser]

Another fun read from Crumpy.

[Suzanne]

A good funny little story set in the back ranch stations of New Zealand. It took a little bit to get use to the New Zealand way of saying things, but then the dry, tongue-in-cheek humor came flying through. Imagine a rough bachelor working his rough, wild ranch & then getting married to a town girl who runs her whole life by the stars (Zodiac, astrology). Amusing.

[Lisa]

I enjoyed this book like all Barry Crump stories. So totally unbelievable and yet it reads true.

[Robert Newell]

Another fantastic Barry Crump story. Funny and difficult to put down. When I read the book I could imagine being on a bleak South Island station, he describes his surroundings so well