Status
Available
Publication
London : Chatto & Windus, 2003
Description
Newlyweds Joseph and Harriet Blackstone emigrate from England to New Zealand, along with Joseph's mother Lilian, in search of new beginnings and prosperity. But the harsh land near Christchurch where they settle threatens to destroy them almost before they begin. When Joseph finds gold in a creek bed, he hides the discovery from both his wife and mother, and becomes obsessed with the riches awaiting him deep in the earth. Abandoning his farm and family, he sets off alone for the new goldfields over the Southern Alps, a moral wilderness where many others, under the seductive dreams of the "colour," rush to their destinies and doom.
Media reviews
It's an engrossing novel, an adventure story with a sensitive side; Robert Louis Stevenson with a fit of the vapours. Since Tremain's writing is celebrated for its richness, its sensuousness, it's a relief to report that the comparatively muted colours of The Colour are no obstacle to her
Show More
readability. If anything, they allow it to shine even more brightly. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member lauralkeet
In 1864, Joseph Blackstone, his new wife Harriet, and his mother Lilian emigrated from England to New Zealand in search of a better life. Lilian, recently widowed, pines for her former lifestyle and resents having to live on their remote farm. But at the same time, she also hopes to rise above her
The familiar feeling of being snubbed -- a feeling she'd thought belonged only to England, where the disdain of the upper classes infected every encounter -- made Lilian want to weep, or, worse, give Dorothy Orchard a vicious swipe across her badly coiffed head. Lilian was particularly vexed by the knowledge that she never understood exactly how people like Dorothy Orchard achieved their instantaneous mastery over others outside their class. It happened before you noticed it, like a perfectly executed card trick. (p. 78)
Joseph is arrogant and stubborn, refusing to listen to advice from the locals on where to build his house, and what materials to use. Joseph and Harriet have an odd relationship. Joseph has a secret in his past, and married for all the wrong reasons. It's not clear what they see in one another, and it doesn't take long for Harriet to realize she will never truly love Joseph:
For day by day, she kept secret from him her own lovelessness. It piled up in her. At times, it was not merely lack of love that she felt; it was hatred of the blackest kind. And though she struggled to conceal it from him, perhaps she succeeded no better than he did with his blatant heaps of earth? In the nights, she often awoke at first light to see him staring at her, his eye close to hers, his fists clenched around the sheets. Did he know that she did not love him? Did he understand all too clearly that she loved the wilderness he had brought her to, but not him? (p. 95)
Yet both Harriet and Lilian are committed to making their farm a success, even after Joseph finds gold in a nearby creek and decides to join the hundreds of other men seeking their fortunes in New Zealand's gold rush. Circumstances eventually force Harriet to go off on her own, in search of Joseph.
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 the couple have any chance of finding gold and making something of their lives together.
But that's only part of this story; Rose Tremain has more to say than "just" historical drama laced with love. She also shows how the quest for gold took its toll on the land and destroyed both individuals and communities. Those who are untouched by greed and continued leading simple lives were by far the happiest and, one could argue, the most successful.
Show More
station, and is disappointed to encounter familiar class barriers in New Zealand:The familiar feeling of being snubbed -- a feeling she'd thought belonged only to England, where the disdain of the upper classes infected every encounter -- made Lilian want to weep, or, worse, give Dorothy Orchard a vicious swipe across her badly coiffed head. Lilian was particularly vexed by the knowledge that she never understood exactly how people like Dorothy Orchard achieved their instantaneous mastery over others outside their class. It happened before you noticed it, like a perfectly executed card trick. (p. 78)
Joseph is arrogant and stubborn, refusing to listen to advice from the locals on where to build his house, and what materials to use. Joseph and Harriet have an odd relationship. Joseph has a secret in his past, and married for all the wrong reasons. It's not clear what they see in one another, and it doesn't take long for Harriet to realize she will never truly love Joseph:
For day by day, she kept secret from him her own lovelessness. It piled up in her. At times, it was not merely lack of love that she felt; it was hatred of the blackest kind. And though she struggled to conceal it from him, perhaps she succeeded no better than he did with his blatant heaps of earth? In the nights, she often awoke at first light to see him staring at her, his eye close to hers, his fists clenched around the sheets. Did he know that she did not love him? Did he understand all too clearly that she loved the wilderness he had brought her to, but not him? (p. 95)
Yet both Harriet and Lilian are committed to making their farm a success, even after Joseph finds gold in a nearby creek and decides to join the hundreds of other men seeking their fortunes in New Zealand's gold rush. Circumstances eventually force Harriet to go off on her own, in search of Joseph.
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 the couple have any chance of finding gold and making something of their lives together.
But that's only part of this story; Rose Tremain has more to say than "just" historical drama laced with love. She also shows how the quest for gold took its toll on the land and destroyed both individuals and communities. Those who are untouched by greed and continued leading simple lives were by far the happiest and, one could argue, the most successful.
Show Less
LibraryThing member vancouverdeb
The Colour is set in the 1860's New Zealand, a time of great immigration and a gold rush for that country.
Lilian, Joseph and Harriet Blackstone arrive by boat from England to Christchurch, New Zealand. Lilian Blackstone, Joseph's mother, is a widow ruined by her husband's gambling and has little
Joseph initially starts with good intentions, as he says to Harriet:"We will not cling to familiar ways. We will imagine ourselves reborn over there. On the acres I am buying, everything will begin afresh." p15. However,Joseph's intentions quickly go awry.
He builds a " house" with sub- par materials, using calico fabric for the the interior walls. The house is far from civilization and any neighbours.Against the advice of others in the area, Joseph builds " Cob House" high on the hills, where winds and weather batter it.
Harriet, a strong, resourceful, admirable woman , bears up well and adapts to her new surroundings, planting a garden, procuring a few hens, a donkey and a cow. She also makes a great effort to meet and get to know her closest neighbours, a small family at the well built Orchard House. Meantime, mother and mother - in law Lilian despairs of the ill built house , the lack of culture and finds herself longing to return to England.
Joseph built the house by a creek for a water supply. He initially plans to create a pond at the creek, but in digging there, he finds a bit of "colour", that is a bit of gold dust. From then on Joseph is a man obsessed, spending months digging a the creek, neglecting all else and hiding his true reason for digging at the creek from both his wife and mother. Harriet and Joseph grow further apart, and in time Joseph's leaves Cob House, the farm and his wife and mother for goldfields over the Southern Alps. Joseph's lack of moral scruples worsen in the gold fields, and he is avoided by the men there. Joseph is a man driven by desire and greed.
The story touches on Maori culture, the Chinese who also immigrated to New Zealand, but not in a large way. There is some magical realism with regards to both the Maori Culture, and the Chinese man, Pao Yi. It was interesting, but not altogether believable to me.
A dark and interesting piece of historical fiction, and one which focuses on both the physical and moral wilderness that the Blackstone family encounter in the New Zealand frontier . The focus is on the moral wilderness, and that is what made the novel most interesting and darkly intriguing.
4 stars.
Lilian, Joseph and Harriet Blackstone arrive by boat from England to Christchurch, New Zealand. Lilian Blackstone, Joseph's mother, is a widow ruined by her husband's gambling and has little
Show More
choice but to follow her son. Joseph, as we gradually discover , is escaping the consequences of a sordid crime he committed in England. Oblivious to Joseph's past, Harriet is a 34 year old former governess, seeking her own home and hearth, who has hastily married Joseph.Joseph initially starts with good intentions, as he says to Harriet:"We will not cling to familiar ways. We will imagine ourselves reborn over there. On the acres I am buying, everything will begin afresh." p15. However,Joseph's intentions quickly go awry.
He builds a " house" with sub- par materials, using calico fabric for the the interior walls. The house is far from civilization and any neighbours.Against the advice of others in the area, Joseph builds " Cob House" high on the hills, where winds and weather batter it.
Harriet, a strong, resourceful, admirable woman , bears up well and adapts to her new surroundings, planting a garden, procuring a few hens, a donkey and a cow. She also makes a great effort to meet and get to know her closest neighbours, a small family at the well built Orchard House. Meantime, mother and mother - in law Lilian despairs of the ill built house , the lack of culture and finds herself longing to return to England.
Joseph built the house by a creek for a water supply. He initially plans to create a pond at the creek, but in digging there, he finds a bit of "colour", that is a bit of gold dust. From then on Joseph is a man obsessed, spending months digging a the creek, neglecting all else and hiding his true reason for digging at the creek from both his wife and mother. Harriet and Joseph grow further apart, and in time Joseph's leaves Cob House, the farm and his wife and mother for goldfields over the Southern Alps. Joseph's lack of moral scruples worsen in the gold fields, and he is avoided by the men there. Joseph is a man driven by desire and greed.
The story touches on Maori culture, the Chinese who also immigrated to New Zealand, but not in a large way. There is some magical realism with regards to both the Maori Culture, and the Chinese man, Pao Yi. It was interesting, but not altogether believable to me.
A dark and interesting piece of historical fiction, and one which focuses on both the physical and moral wilderness that the Blackstone family encounter in the New Zealand frontier . The focus is on the moral wilderness, and that is what made the novel most interesting and darkly intriguing.
4 stars.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lit_chick
"For gold is deceitful; this he was beginning to understand. It is as duplicitous as a girl. It shows itself and beckons. Within its first gleam lies the promise of more, much more, and so men go forward, cajoling the earth, breaking their backs and their hearts, but very often they are rewarded
In search of a new life, Joseph Blackstone, along with his bride, Harriet, and his widowed mother, Lilian, sails from England to New Zealand in 1864. But Blackstone is a hardheaded, callous man, and his homestead is doomed to failure. When he discovers strains of gold, “the colour,” in the creek passing through his property, he abandons both farm and family in pursuit of riches. The gold-fields, he will shortly learn, are a moral cesspool. Harriet, now alone in a strange land, must find her own way. Fearlessly (almost), she sets out on her own adventure.
In addition to the parallel stories of the Blackstones, Tremain skillfully integrates both Chinese and Maori elements into The Colour using secondary characters: Maori woman, Pare, and Chinese gardener, Pao Yi. The relationships between characters, primary and secondary, are fascinating: like gold, they are deceitful and duplicitous.
Tremain’ writing is fabulous, and I look forward to more of her work. Highly recommended.
Show More
with nothing – or almost nothing: just the very little needed to keep hope and longing alive." (85)In search of a new life, Joseph Blackstone, along with his bride, Harriet, and his widowed mother, Lilian, sails from England to New Zealand in 1864. But Blackstone is a hardheaded, callous man, and his homestead is doomed to failure. When he discovers strains of gold, “the colour,” in the creek passing through his property, he abandons both farm and family in pursuit of riches. The gold-fields, he will shortly learn, are a moral cesspool. Harriet, now alone in a strange land, must find her own way. Fearlessly (almost), she sets out on her own adventure.
In addition to the parallel stories of the Blackstones, Tremain skillfully integrates both Chinese and Maori elements into The Colour using secondary characters: Maori woman, Pare, and Chinese gardener, Pao Yi. The relationships between characters, primary and secondary, are fascinating: like gold, they are deceitful and duplicitous.
Tremain’ writing is fabulous, and I look forward to more of her work. Highly recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mrstreme
On the surface, The Colour by Rose Tremain was a beautifully written account of English settlers in mid-nineteenth century New Zealand, trying to escape their demons while carving a new life for themselves. However, if you scratch deeper, you saw that it’s also a story about the attainment of
Joseph and Harriet Blackstone, along with Joseph’s mother, Lilian, settled in their cob house in rural New Zealand, and while dredging the creek, Joseph discovered gold dust. New Zealand was at the throes of a gold rush – much like in California – and Joseph immediately was struck with gold fever. He hid his discovery from his wife and mother, until the fever (literally) overtook him, and he voyaged out to strike it rich. Meanwhile, Harriet and Lilian were left to make do on an undeveloped farm in meager shelter.
Joseph was an interesting character. Hard-working but unconfident, he was hell bent to redeem himself from his “mistake” in England, especially in the eyes of his mother. Redemption for Joseph was in the form of money and success, which is why he was so determined to find more gold. Harriet was another interesting character. Strong, smart and practical, she longed for the mountainous life in New Zealand, but became steadily uneasy with the life Joseph wanted for them. For her, a simple but successful farm filled with warmth and love was more important than wealth.
I have never read a book set in New Zealand, and I was fascinated with the inclusions of the native culture, wildlife and customs that Tremain sprinkled in this book. The rigors of farm life and gold camps were blatant and telling, with tragedy poking its head around each corner. You wished the best for each character, even when he didn’t know what was the best thing for him (or her).
This was my first Rose Tremain novel but not my last. Her storytelling, vivid language and fascinating characters left me begging for more. I highly recommend The Colour to readers who enjoy great historical fiction or want to learn more about the settlement of the British in New Zealand.
Show More
happiness, and more importantly, how to be happy with what you’ve already attained in life.Joseph and Harriet Blackstone, along with Joseph’s mother, Lilian, settled in their cob house in rural New Zealand, and while dredging the creek, Joseph discovered gold dust. New Zealand was at the throes of a gold rush – much like in California – and Joseph immediately was struck with gold fever. He hid his discovery from his wife and mother, until the fever (literally) overtook him, and he voyaged out to strike it rich. Meanwhile, Harriet and Lilian were left to make do on an undeveloped farm in meager shelter.
Joseph was an interesting character. Hard-working but unconfident, he was hell bent to redeem himself from his “mistake” in England, especially in the eyes of his mother. Redemption for Joseph was in the form of money and success, which is why he was so determined to find more gold. Harriet was another interesting character. Strong, smart and practical, she longed for the mountainous life in New Zealand, but became steadily uneasy with the life Joseph wanted for them. For her, a simple but successful farm filled with warmth and love was more important than wealth.
I have never read a book set in New Zealand, and I was fascinated with the inclusions of the native culture, wildlife and customs that Tremain sprinkled in this book. The rigors of farm life and gold camps were blatant and telling, with tragedy poking its head around each corner. You wished the best for each character, even when he didn’t know what was the best thing for him (or her).
This was my first Rose Tremain novel but not my last. Her storytelling, vivid language and fascinating characters left me begging for more. I highly recommend The Colour to readers who enjoy great historical fiction or want to learn more about the settlement of the British in New Zealand.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Nickelini
In the mid-1860s, Joseph Blackstone arrives in New Zealand from England with his recently widowed mother and his new bride, Harriet. They earnestly begin to homestead on the harsh South Island, but after Joseph discovers a small quantity of gold in his creek, he trades in his dream of a simple farm
There is more going on her than you find in a typical historical novel, which is why it was nominated for the Orange prize and also included in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I really enjoyed Tremain’s writing style, and will definitely look for more of her novels. I’ve never read anything about the colonial period in New Zealand, so I enjoyed exploring a new time and place. I also liked how she wove together threads about the Maoris and both English and Chinese immigrants.
Recommended for: readers who like their historical fiction on the more literary side, readers who are interested in the time period or NZ setting.
Show More
for the grander dream of gold wealth. As we see gold fever changing his behavior, Joseph's past (despicable) behaviour is also revealed. The parallel story is Harriet’s rise to the challenges of finding herself on the other side of the world with a worthless husband and few resources. After twelve years as a governess raising other people’s children in smothering drawing rooms, Harriet looks at her new life in New Zealand as one great adventure. There is more going on her than you find in a typical historical novel, which is why it was nominated for the Orange prize and also included in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I really enjoyed Tremain’s writing style, and will definitely look for more of her novels. I’ve never read anything about the colonial period in New Zealand, so I enjoyed exploring a new time and place. I also liked how she wove together threads about the Maoris and both English and Chinese immigrants.
Recommended for: readers who like their historical fiction on the more literary side, readers who are interested in the time period or NZ setting.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LizzieD
If anybody but Rose Tremain had written The Colour, I would think it her masterpiece. It contains wonderfully assured writing and characters in a fascinating historical setting. I liked it less well than The Road Home and Music and Silence because of Joseph Blackstone. He is a damaged man who never
This is a book of visions and of vision, a book that seriously considers the quest beloved by English teachers as a theme in literature. Now that I have finished it, I believe that four stars may be too few, but while I was reading, I was less satisfied than I had been in her other books. I'll let the four stars stand, but say that this one is well worth the time.
Show More
finds redemption from the damage he has sustained and inflicted on others. His wife Harriet, on the other hand, is a strong, fascinating survivor whose natural propensity for reaching out to other people makes her a decent human being. Those decent human beings are the reason that I turn to Ms. Tremain again and again. Harriet is far from perfect, but her courage and her ability to care for others and for herself make her a heroine worth reading about. This is a book of visions and of vision, a book that seriously considers the quest beloved by English teachers as a theme in literature. Now that I have finished it, I believe that four stars may be too few, but while I was reading, I was less satisfied than I had been in her other books. I'll let the four stars stand, but say that this one is well worth the time.
Show Less
LibraryThing member writestuff
In 1864, a newly married couple - Joseph and Harriet Blackstone - travel with Joseph’s mother Lilian from England to New Zealand to begin their lives together. For Harriet, it is the beginning of a future, a dream about her own home in the beautiful wilderness of New Zealand, a chance to have a
The inhospitable and breathtaking land of New Zealand seems pitted against these people almost from the very first when Joseph mistakenly builds his home on an exposed hill instead of the protected flats. Then one day Joseph discovers gold dust in the creek near his home and keeps it a secret from both Harriet and Lilian. It becomes an obsession which promises his redemption and one which will finally drive him to the other side of the Southern Alps where a Gold Rush is underway.
Rose Tremain writes extraordinary prose which thrusts her reader into the midst of a stark and unforgiving environment. She develops her characters flawlessly - uncovering Joseph’s motivations, desires and finally his devastating secret as he struggles to find gold among desperate men. Joseph’s loss of love and morality is heartbreaking.
Harriet Blackstone is a raw character who grows before the reader’s eyes from an uncertain individual to a woman of courage and fortitude. In Tremain’s hands, Harriet is fully realized.
Lilian, too, grows from a difficult woman into one the reader comes to respect. Faced with the loss of everything she knows, she eventually puts aside the broken pieces of her life and strives to make something of what she has been given.
Thematically The Colour revolves around the power of nature, love and desire, materialism vs. inner contentment, and the connection between cultures. Tremain introduces a Chinese man who has left his family in China to join the Rush - not as a seeker of gold, but as a gardener providing sustenance for the miners. There is also Pare - a Maori woman who develops a mystical relationship with a small boy whom she once cared for. Despite the wide scope of theme and character in this novel, it never feels scattered. Tremain connects all the threads for her readers, giving them a book which is illuminating and satisfying. Tremain is a gifted storyteller, and in The Colour she combines all her talents and creates a novel which resonates with the reader.
Highly recommended.
Show More
garden and animals and to create something out of her life. For Lilian, the move represents failure and loneliness where she must give up her comfortable existence in England, be forced to piece back together the shattered remains of her china, and live on dirt floors in a cob house which leaks. For Joseph, the move to New Zealand is an escape from his past - a past he has buried and hidden from everyone - and a chance to heal his guilt and make his mother (finally) be proud of him.The inhospitable and breathtaking land of New Zealand seems pitted against these people almost from the very first when Joseph mistakenly builds his home on an exposed hill instead of the protected flats. Then one day Joseph discovers gold dust in the creek near his home and keeps it a secret from both Harriet and Lilian. It becomes an obsession which promises his redemption and one which will finally drive him to the other side of the Southern Alps where a Gold Rush is underway.
Rose Tremain writes extraordinary prose which thrusts her reader into the midst of a stark and unforgiving environment. She develops her characters flawlessly - uncovering Joseph’s motivations, desires and finally his devastating secret as he struggles to find gold among desperate men. Joseph’s loss of love and morality is heartbreaking.
Harriet Blackstone is a raw character who grows before the reader’s eyes from an uncertain individual to a woman of courage and fortitude. In Tremain’s hands, Harriet is fully realized.
Lilian, too, grows from a difficult woman into one the reader comes to respect. Faced with the loss of everything she knows, she eventually puts aside the broken pieces of her life and strives to make something of what she has been given.
Thematically The Colour revolves around the power of nature, love and desire, materialism vs. inner contentment, and the connection between cultures. Tremain introduces a Chinese man who has left his family in China to join the Rush - not as a seeker of gold, but as a gardener providing sustenance for the miners. There is also Pare - a Maori woman who develops a mystical relationship with a small boy whom she once cared for. Despite the wide scope of theme and character in this novel, it never feels scattered. Tremain connects all the threads for her readers, giving them a book which is illuminating and satisfying. Tremain is a gifted storyteller, and in The Colour she combines all her talents and creates a novel which resonates with the reader.
Highly recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mysteena
In my endeavor to read books from the "1001 books" list, I came across this historical fiction about the gold rush in New Zealand. My town's quaint little library doesn't have most of the newer books on the 1001-list, so I was happy to find this one. I like reading a new author and/or new book that
Show More
I know nothing about and I was not disappointed with this novel. The story is of a newlywed couple and the groom's mother, who move to New Zealand to start a new life for themselves. As gold is discovered, the lives of most characters in the novel are changed forever. Tremain does an excellent job with character development, spending a lot of time on both major and minor characters. I did find the ending a little too tidy, almost a bit cliche; it felt like everything ended as it should have. I guess that's a good thing. Show Less
LibraryThing member CatieN
Harriet and Joseph Blackstone emigrate from England to New Zealand in the 1860s; Harriet looking for adventure and Joseph running away from an awful secret. Joseph's mother is dragged along unwillingly. Their goal is to farm, but the harsh climate is their undoing. Then Joseph becomes involved with
Show More
the Gold Rush in the Souther Alps, and Harriet soon follows for other reasons. The story is about greed and does money buy happiness and absolve guilt. After more tragedy, a relationship evolves between a surprising pair that helps to bring about a great ending to the book. There is also a beautiful and heartbreaking side story about the natives of New Zealand and their spirit world. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member LukeS
This stunning piece about a woman in Victorian England who travels to New Zealand with her husband and mother-in-law, is one of the half-dozen best books I have ever read. The woman's story of finding love and satisfaction in a far-off, exotic place reverberates on so many levels: it's visually
Show More
stunning, romantic, it involves a quest, it takes out to the literal ends of the earth and back again. Show Less
LibraryThing member dczapka
The Colour is, above all, a novel of incredible extremes, and so I guess it's appropriate that I found it both incredibly absorbing and, in a strange way, utterly horrid.
Within the first 40 pages of this tale of an English transplant and his new wife making a new life for themselves on the south
Ultimately, the whole story's an unsurprising downer, but it's still a surprisingly absorbing read despite the impenetrable bleakness.
Within the first 40 pages of this tale of an English transplant and his new wife making a new life for themselves on the south
Show More
island of New Zealand in the 1860s, the two have developed a mutual disaffection for each other, and you just know it's all downhill from here. Scenes of inordinate violence punctuate the relative calm throughout the text and, with little exception, the story eventually reveals itself to be populated by some of the most despicable characters in recent fiction, none of whom feel really worth our sympathies.Ultimately, the whole story's an unsurprising downer, but it's still a surprisingly absorbing read despite the impenetrable bleakness.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MelmoththeLost
I've had this book on the shelf for several years now and have picked it up and put it down many times during this period. Somehow the longer it lurked and patiently waited its turn, the more it got overlooked in favour of newcomers to the shelf, acquired in more recent strange fits of passion. Now
Tremain is wonderful at evoking the vast emptiness of an embryonic New Zealand, still in the first throes of its colonial settlement. One senses that things are not yet permanent, that if things were to go badly wrong, for instance from a few years of famine or another such catastrophe, the colonial population could and would just "up sticks" and leave for somewhere more promising. This is an epic landscape but one in and on which the white settlers are not yet fully a part.
Her evokation of the chaos and desperate hope engendered by the gold rush (that headlong lunge for wealth which was, Harriet's accidental participation notwithstanding, entirely a male domain) with all its squalor, filth and degradation, is also vivid and memorable.
There is, at first glance at any rate, a fundamental flaw in the plot in that Joseph's reason for fleeing to New Zealand (that he is being blackmailed by a former accomplice over something which went badly wrong) doesn't add up. The reality is that if Joseph stood his ground and refused to be blackmailed there is nothing that his blackmailer could do to denounce Joseph without revealing his own much more central part in the deed which is a secret between them. In denouncing Joseph, the blackmailer would in effect put his own head in a noose.
However Joseph is not a thinking or rational man. He is an impulsive man, easily driven to bitterness and envy towards those who seem to be doing better than he is. He is riddled by a need to finally do something, anything, to gain the approval and respect of his mother who had been bitterly disappointed in her late husband but who at the same time idolised him - no doubt as a good wife was required to do regardless of the realities of her marriage. Perhaps his tragedy (though what also might have been his salvation) is that he married a woman very unlike his bitter mother.
Tremain has created a huge cast of characters, or maybe a cast of huge characters, who are vivid on the page and memorable afterwards. Her writing is a wonderful discovery and I'm delighted to already have another of her novels waiting on the in-pile.
Show More
that I've finally read it (as part of a concerted attempt to clear out books which have been kicking around for aeons) I wish I'd done so much earlier. Put simply it's one of the most engrossing novels I've read in a very long time.Tremain is wonderful at evoking the vast emptiness of an embryonic New Zealand, still in the first throes of its colonial settlement. One senses that things are not yet permanent, that if things were to go badly wrong, for instance from a few years of famine or another such catastrophe, the colonial population could and would just "up sticks" and leave for somewhere more promising. This is an epic landscape but one in and on which the white settlers are not yet fully a part.
Her evokation of the chaos and desperate hope engendered by the gold rush (that headlong lunge for wealth which was, Harriet's accidental participation notwithstanding, entirely a male domain) with all its squalor, filth and degradation, is also vivid and memorable.
There is, at first glance at any rate, a fundamental flaw in the plot in that Joseph's reason for fleeing to New Zealand (that he is being blackmailed by a former accomplice over something which went badly wrong) doesn't add up. The reality is that if Joseph stood his ground and refused to be blackmailed there is nothing that his blackmailer could do to denounce Joseph without revealing his own much more central part in the deed which is a secret between them. In denouncing Joseph, the blackmailer would in effect put his own head in a noose.
However Joseph is not a thinking or rational man. He is an impulsive man, easily driven to bitterness and envy towards those who seem to be doing better than he is. He is riddled by a need to finally do something, anything, to gain the approval and respect of his mother who had been bitterly disappointed in her late husband but who at the same time idolised him - no doubt as a good wife was required to do regardless of the realities of her marriage. Perhaps his tragedy (though what also might have been his salvation) is that he married a woman very unlike his bitter mother.
Tremain has created a huge cast of characters, or maybe a cast of huge characters, who are vivid on the page and memorable afterwards. Her writing is a wonderful discovery and I'm delighted to already have another of her novels waiting on the in-pile.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JudyCroome
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
With subtle twists and turns, the characters that inhabit this story must face deep truths about themselves. Those, like Joseph, who at first appear strong and reliable, disintegrate under the raw influence of the colour (gold) and their own secrets (Joseph’s relationships with both Rebecca and Will are excruciatingly revealing.) Others, like Harriet, discover unexpected inner fortitude, while Chen Pao Yi, the Chinese vegetable peddler, reveals a quiet strength and sensitivity that is Harriet’s salvation.
Tremain’s skill comes to the fore in her characterisations: although the cast of secondary characters is at times overwhelming, each character is drawn with such exquisite talent that their world is captivating.
Without any overt moralising, THE COLOUR ends with a clear message: those who face life with a sense of entitlement (whether based on their gender, race, social status or sense of victimhood) will find life futile and meaningless, while those who face life’s challenges with hope, courage and kindness will prosper both spiritually and materially.
Tremain has written a novel that is both profound and entertaining. A remarkable achievement.
Whether she’s describing the harsh wilderness that awaits the
Show More
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 psyche, stripping away all inessentials and reducing individuals to their most basic nature, Tremain’s writing doesn’t disappoint. With subtle twists and turns, the characters that inhabit this story must face deep truths about themselves. Those, like Joseph, who at first appear strong and reliable, disintegrate under the raw influence of the colour (gold) and their own secrets (Joseph’s relationships with both Rebecca and Will are excruciatingly revealing.) Others, like Harriet, discover unexpected inner fortitude, while Chen Pao Yi, the Chinese vegetable peddler, reveals a quiet strength and sensitivity that is Harriet’s salvation.
Tremain’s skill comes to the fore in her characterisations: although the cast of secondary characters is at times overwhelming, each character is drawn with such exquisite talent that their world is captivating.
Without any overt moralising, THE COLOUR ends with a clear message: those who face life with a sense of entitlement (whether based on their gender, race, social status or sense of victimhood) will find life futile and meaningless, while those who face life’s challenges with hope, courage and kindness will prosper both spiritually and materially.
Tremain has written a novel that is both profound and entertaining. A remarkable achievement.
Show Less
LibraryThing member maryreinert
All of the characters in this book are believeable although not necessarily likeable. Harriet has a strength about her that was necessary if a woman was to survive during these hard times. Even her mother-in-law Lillian, who at first meeting appears to be weak and self-centered learns to adapt to
Show More
the hard circumstances of their life. Joseph is a complex, distant, and distrusting man filled with a guilt that he himself does not seem to understand. The setting of New Zealand with its rugged terrain seems to almost become a character. All of the realistic and harsh aspects of this novel pulled me into the story. However, the mysterious "spiritual" world of the Maori nurse and her relationship to young Edwin seems out of place in the story. I was disappointed in this aspect of the book. The contrast between how the Maori reacted to the environment around them and how the English settlers reacted could have better developed. Overall, a really good historical fiction read Show Less
LibraryThing member murraymint11
I liked this well enough, although not the main male protagonist, Joseph. He got on my nerves. The women in the book were well-drawn, especially Harriet. I best liked the part where they were building their home from scratch.
LibraryThing member hazelk
I found I was starting to flag about half way through this novel but it picked up again. I especially liked the final chapters where the writing about the relationship of Harriet and Pao Yi was well conveyed. The enormous amount of research needed for this story seems to have had an effect on the
Show More
characterisation: it was difficult to empathise with any of the main characters. In contrast, in her The Road Home I was really 'with' Lev in his struggle for economic survival in the UK. Show Less
LibraryThing member mysteena
In my endeavor to read books from the "1001 books" list, I came across this historical fiction about the gold rush in New Zealand. My town's quaint little library doesn't have most of the newer books on the 1001-list, so I was happy to find this one. I like reading a new author and/or new book that
Show More
I know nothing about and I was not disappointed with this novel. The story is of a newlywed couple and the groom's mother, who move to New Zealand to start a new life for themselves. As gold is discovered, the lives of most characters in the novel are changed forever. Tremain does an excellent job with character development, spending a lot of time on both major and minor characters. I did find the ending a little too tidy, almost a bit cliche; it felt like everything ended as it should have. I guess that's a good thing. Show Less
LibraryThing member elsyd
A good story. Lots of great descriptions of New Zealand. I found Joseph Blackstone to be poor excuse for a man, without any redeaming qualities except, maybe, his love for his mother!
LibraryThing member Glorybe1
I just loved this book, about a couple who buy a farm and emmigrate to New Zealand in 1864. It gripped me from the first page.
Joseph Blackstone takes his new wife and his mother to New Zealand to start a new life. He is a selfish, self centred man who refuses to listen to other peoples advice, he
Harriet has the heart of an adventurer whereas her husband is just running from a dark secret and wracked with so much guilt, of what he has done, that he is incapable of making a success of anything. He doesn't really love his wife as he should, he's secretive and devoid of all feeling towards anyone but himself, he desperately wants to gain his mothers approval though, but doesn't know how.
When he finds gold on his land he hides the secret to himself and becomes obssessed with striking it rich, he abandons Harriet and his mother to go to the gold fields, which is ultimately his undoing.
The Story is told through each of these characters points of view. It is very hard to find any redeeming feature in Joseph and to start with his mother too, but you do feel sympathetic towards her as time goes on. Harriet is the one I empathised with, her determination to work hard and make a life for herself once she realises what Joseph is really like.
This is a great book, very well worth reading.
Joseph Blackstone takes his new wife and his mother to New Zealand to start a new life. He is a selfish, self centred man who refuses to listen to other peoples advice, he
Show More
married his wife for all the wrong reasons. She is strong and determined and is sure she will make a success of their new life. Joseph's mother just misses England and her late husband too much to be of very much use.Harriet has the heart of an adventurer whereas her husband is just running from a dark secret and wracked with so much guilt, of what he has done, that he is incapable of making a success of anything. He doesn't really love his wife as he should, he's secretive and devoid of all feeling towards anyone but himself, he desperately wants to gain his mothers approval though, but doesn't know how.
When he finds gold on his land he hides the secret to himself and becomes obssessed with striking it rich, he abandons Harriet and his mother to go to the gold fields, which is ultimately his undoing.
The Story is told through each of these characters points of view. It is very hard to find any redeeming feature in Joseph and to start with his mother too, but you do feel sympathetic towards her as time goes on. Harriet is the one I empathised with, her determination to work hard and make a life for herself once she realises what Joseph is really like.
This is a great book, very well worth reading.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mbergman
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
Show More
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, perhaps excessively, with the characters' interior lives. Show Less
LibraryThing member hemlokgang
Read this novel and become engrossed in the hearts and minds of Harriet & Joseph, Dorothy & Edwin, Chin Pao Yi and more. Follow the harsh details of survival in New Zealand, where so many try to find "the colour" of gold in the mountains. This story is harsh, the prose is lyrical, spiritual, and
Show More
terrible. I could hardly stop until I finished. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Show Less
LibraryThing member jayne_charles
Plenty of things happened in this tale of the New Zealand gold rush, what with blue blancmanges, 19th century rentboys and fossicking. Lots and lots of fossicking. (Love that word: totally innocent but it sounds as if it ought to mean something rude).
Why, then, did it feel so slow?
It can’t be
Why, then, did it feel so slow?
It can’t be
Show More
denied that this author has a way with words. She created the atmosphere of time and place beautifully and with great attention to detail. The aims, thoughts and feelings of her characters were rendered so as to be perfectly understood. There was always something going on, and yet...I was never on the edge of my seat. That’s the reason for my low-ish star rating, not because it’s a bad book. Show Less
LibraryThing member julie10reads
Newlyweds Joseph and Harriet Blackstone leave England to seek their fortune in 19th-century New Zealand, but Joseph's discovery of gold does not turn out to be the answer to their dreams. Summary HPL.
Longish, intense, with sensual descriptions both harsh and luxurious. Characters weren't terribly
7.5 out of 10 For fans of domestic, historical and pioneer fiction.
Longish, intense, with sensual descriptions both harsh and luxurious. Characters weren't terribly
Show More
likeable except for Harriet. Like The Lifeboat, this book features women who are strong by nature or by necessity. The gritty realities of 19th century New Zealand gold rush are intimately conveyed. I liked it but kept losing the thread of the story.7.5 out of 10 For fans of domestic, historical and pioneer fiction.
Show Less
LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
Gold: "is as duplicitous as a girl. It shows itself and beckons. Within its first gleam lies the promise of more, much more…"
This novel is set in 1860s New Zealand and as such will be seen as a piece of historical fiction. However, it is more than that it is a story of secrets and lies.
Newly-weds
In New Zealand Joseph buys some land and builds a small house out of mud and straw. Together, Joseph and Harriet, dig a farm out of the virgin soil, whilst at the same time digging themselves into a cold, unhappy marriage. The only bright point for Harriet is that she makes friends with their distant neighbours Toby and Dorothy Orchard and their son Edwin. One day Joseph discovers gold in the river running through their land but rather than tell Harriet about his find and unsatisfied by the quantity he decides to abandon the farm as well as Harriet and Lillian and join the gold rush that is just beginning in west of the country. When Lillian catches a chill and dies Harriet's desire for adventure and the collapse of their house leads to her leaving the farm to join Joseph which given the state of their marriage this certainly seems to stretch credibility to its limit. However, once at the gold fields both find a kind of happiness for themselves although not the kind that they may have each anticipated.
Tremain manges to paint a very vivid picture of the hardships of life in New Zealand both physical and natural in those early colonial days. In particular her depiction of the gold-fields with its squalor, its fossicking, windlasses and box flumes is very striking. But also her depiction of the gold prospectors themselves, their desire and bitter hope despite disappointment after disappointment is so engaging that you can almost feel it yourself. And it is not only the miners who catch the gold bug so do those who left behind who try and profit from the influx of so many incomers. This is best portrayed when the seemingly upright Christian landlady Mrs Dinsdale, who befriends Lillian on their initial arrival in Christchurch, but becomes coquettish and rather brazen when so many single men arrive in the country. That said and done I found it rather hard to feel any sympathy for any of the main characters.
However, when all said and done, the author's diversion into the spiritual and in particular the relationship between Edwin and his erstwhile Maori nanny Pare that rather lets the book down for me. IMHO it was unnecessary and acted as a distraction from the main plot rather than enhancing it. This a real shame because otherwise I found this is a very enjoyable read.
This novel is set in 1860s New Zealand and as such will be seen as a piece of historical fiction. However, it is more than that it is a story of secrets and lies.
Newly-weds
Show More
Joseph and Harriet Blackstone, accompanied by Joseph's widowed mother Lillian, leave their life in Norfolk for a new one in New Zealand. He is fleeing a guilty secret, she abandoning a dull life as a governess in the search for adventure. Despite being married they hardly know one another and the only thing they have in common is a shared desire to start anew, somewhere else.In New Zealand Joseph buys some land and builds a small house out of mud and straw. Together, Joseph and Harriet, dig a farm out of the virgin soil, whilst at the same time digging themselves into a cold, unhappy marriage. The only bright point for Harriet is that she makes friends with their distant neighbours Toby and Dorothy Orchard and their son Edwin. One day Joseph discovers gold in the river running through their land but rather than tell Harriet about his find and unsatisfied by the quantity he decides to abandon the farm as well as Harriet and Lillian and join the gold rush that is just beginning in west of the country. When Lillian catches a chill and dies Harriet's desire for adventure and the collapse of their house leads to her leaving the farm to join Joseph which given the state of their marriage this certainly seems to stretch credibility to its limit. However, once at the gold fields both find a kind of happiness for themselves although not the kind that they may have each anticipated.
Tremain manges to paint a very vivid picture of the hardships of life in New Zealand both physical and natural in those early colonial days. In particular her depiction of the gold-fields with its squalor, its fossicking, windlasses and box flumes is very striking. But also her depiction of the gold prospectors themselves, their desire and bitter hope despite disappointment after disappointment is so engaging that you can almost feel it yourself. And it is not only the miners who catch the gold bug so do those who left behind who try and profit from the influx of so many incomers. This is best portrayed when the seemingly upright Christian landlady Mrs Dinsdale, who befriends Lillian on their initial arrival in Christchurch, but becomes coquettish and rather brazen when so many single men arrive in the country. That said and done I found it rather hard to feel any sympathy for any of the main characters.
However, when all said and done, the author's diversion into the spiritual and in particular the relationship between Edwin and his erstwhile Maori nanny Pare that rather lets the book down for me. IMHO it was unnecessary and acted as a distraction from the main plot rather than enhancing it. This a real shame because otherwise I found this is a very enjoyable read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member catarina1
Rose Tremain made my list of favorite authors with this book. It did become a little tedious towards the end but was still a good read. Immigrants to New Zealand, the Gold Rush there in the 1800s, with a few other characters - Pare, a Maori woman, Chen, a Chinese immigrant. Well drawn characters.
Subjects
Awards
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 2004)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2003)