10. Reviews and ratings

[Jen]

Place your reviews and rating here. Does the book belong on the 1001 list? Why or why not?

[Diane]

Rating: 3 Stars
Read: July 2013

This is the story of English immigrants to New Zealand in the mid-19th century and their experiences in a new, different, and harsh landscape. I loved the descriptions of the setting and I think most of the writing was good and the topic well-researched. I think, however, the stories lacked cohesion and I didn't gel as well as I should have with the characters. I went into this book sure that I would love it since this is my typical genre but felt disappointed overall. I do remember that it started off strong, but lost its interest to me somewhere during those (close to) 400 pages.

I am not sure if this book merits its place on the list.

[[deleted user]]

The Colour Rose Tremain
3 Stars

Told mainly through the eyes of 2 central characters Harriet and Joseph Blackstone this is the story of the 1860's New Zealand gold rush and how The Colour (gold) destroys the land in which it is found as well as those who seek it.

Harriet, Joseph and his mother Lillian have left England for a bright new future in New Zealand the plan is they will build there own farmstead and live a good life from the land, however problems arise from the moment they arrive. Lillian is unhappy in the new atmosphere having never wanted to leave England, Joseph is arrogant ignoring local knowledge and building his home from the worst material in the worst possible location and Harriet discovers the old adage marriage in haste repent at leisure to be too true, their problems really start when Joseph discovers gold powder and gets infected with the fever distrusting everyone and caring for nothing except the Colour.

What I liked;

The descriptions of New Zealand
Chen's dedication to his vegetable garden
Lillian's conversion
The Orchard's
Pare and Edwin and the superstitions around them
The idea that the only people who get rich from a gold rush are those who work on the periphery and don't actually try to prospect gold

What I disliked
Joseph from the first until the last he was despicable and self obsessed
Will Sefton and his role in the camps, the fact it was needed
The way the obsession with gold destroyed everything, family, love and the country

I found this to be an average kind of book not one I would rave however I did enjoy reading it and found some areas of it very interesting

[Jen]

I gave this 4 stars when I read it but Shelfari apparently didn't transfer my review over so I don't remember why I liked it.

[Diane]

The Colour by Rose Tremain
5/5 stars

I loved the ease with which I read this book. The words seemed to leap off the page. I adore historical fiction and this trip to New Zealand 1864 was wonderful. Joseph and Harriet Blackstone along with his mother Lilian head off on a grand adventure from England to New Zealand. As life begins to form in the new house they will all share we learn why each has left, forcibly or not, and bits and pieces of their past that form their identity. It is a complex story that unfolds gently with each new character that joins the story. I was invested in all the characters, likable or not, and couldn't wait to read what was going to happen next. The title of the book is in reference to what the locals call gold in New Zealand. Even though the main part of the story takes place in the gold rush of 1864, the book is really about the unfolding of lives, friendships in unlikely places and relationships; the good, bad and ugly.

[Kristel]

I will give it 4 stars. I think it was a story very well told and writing was crafted but there is something maybe not quite complete to give in a full 5.

I think the author's early chapters were the best. She used weather; the wind and rain to create context. We slowly are let into the secrets that Joseph harbors in his soul. We learn from Harriet that she finally realizes that she married a selfish man. We see a marriage that never really comes together because Joseph only used Harriet for the strength to take this daring trip to New Zealand like he used the boy to go to the gold fields to seek his fortune. I liked how the story was crafted but I felt that the weak parts were the parts that involved Pare. There was an element of magical realism but I never really got why it was included other than to give us a picture of the Maori people and I don't quite understand why we had to kill off Edwin except to show the strength of a good marriage that Dorothy and Toby had. Glad I finally read it. It's been on my shelf a long time, I missed reading it the first time it was chosen but got it done this year.

[Pip]

I read this book some years ago and I didn't think it was especially good. I was annoyed about some descriptions I thought were inaccurate and I wondered at the confidence of someone coming to New Zealand briefly and then writing an historical novel about a less well known history ie the Hokitika Gold Rush. So when I re-read it I checked all the things I thought were wrong - beech trees on the Canterbury Plains, termite mounds in the bush, titoki trees in Canterbury, gold found in North Canterbury. What I discovered was that Rose Tremain had done her research and it was I who was wrong in all these instances. I apologise, Rose Tremain, you know more about the history of N.Z. than I do.