Status
Available
Description
Life isn't always like it appears in the movies. In 1952, Irene Sandle takes her young daughter to Motueka. Irene was widowed during the war and is seeking a new start and employment in the tobacco fields. There, she finds the reality of her life far removed from the glamour of the screen. Can there be romance and happy endings, or will circumstances repeat through the generations? Each subsequent episode in this poignant work follows family secrets and the dynamics of Irene's children. The story doesn't just track their lives, but also New Zealand itself as its attitudes and opportunities change, and reverberate, through the decades.
User reviews
LibraryThing member DebbieMcCauley
The story begins in 1952 and the 14 chapters span 55 years of family and social history. Struggling war widow Irene and her young daughter move to Motueka in the South Island of New Zealand to work the tobacco fields. The intergenerational family stories of Irene and her four children, Jessie,
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Belinda, Grant and Janice, unfold against an historical narrative which includes the Watersiders’ Strike (1951), the death of Prime Minister Norman Kirk (1974), Ruth Richardson's ‘Mother of All Budgets’ (1991), the United Women’s Convention (1975), Springbok tour (1981) and nuclear-free policy (1984). A very well written family narrative and social history. Show Less
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2018)