Customer Reviews
a beautiful work.......... - By: Christopher Healy, 02 Aug 2008 
I read this book on holiday, so was able to relax & fully appreciate Tremains subtle yet dramatic writing. Having never read her books before, I am now a convert & so glad I picked up this book which held me from paged first to last with ease. A beautifully written & compelling story.
excellent read - By: brixtonite, 22 Nov 2007 I loved this engrossing historical novel - highly reccomended. If you can do please read 'Music & Silence' by the same author - absolutely outstanding.
Panning for gold and being disappointed. - By: H Folkes, 04 Mar 2007 
I have previously read & loved "Restoration" by Rose Tremain. The main character was incredible; flawed & yet I cared so much what happened in his life. This book was SO different. Like other reviewers, I did not know there had been a gold rush in New Zealand, so that part of the story was interesting, as was the insight into the world & imagination of the Maori nanny. However, I did not like any of the characters. There was nothing much to admire about them & their motives for reacting in certain ways were at times unconvincing. All in alll I found this book cold & sadly lacking. At the book's most depressing moments, & there were quite a few of those, I found myself like the characters, cold & miserable, searching for a glimmer of gold which would make it alll worthwhile. Sadly I found none. Maybe Rose should be given credit for her ability to make us feel as her characters feel, but I would rather be warmed & entertained by a book.
Descriptive writing - By: kehs, 24 Nov 2006 Set in the New Zealand Gold Rush of the mid-19th century Harriet & Joseph Baxter, along with Joseph's mother, leave England for the promise of the new world that New Zealand represents. Their new home comes with incredible problems & hardships. Their struggle against the land continues until one day Joseph discovers gold in their nearby creek & hides the find from his mother & his wife. Gold fever takes grip of him, & he leaves the family-owned farm & journeys to the gold fields of the Southern Alps. Left alone with his mother Harriet discovers that Joseph had found a little gold on their land. When Joseph's mother dies Harriet bravely decides to cross the mountains in an attempt to find her husband. But she isn't prepared for at the squalor & confusion at the gold-diggings.
Tremain has written a novel that is full of beautifully written prose & engaging characters. It's a tale of greed & hope amongst people who have everything to gain & nothing to lose.
Tedious characters and insufficient plot. - By: Laurel Champion, 28 May 2006 What a disappointment. When you strip away some of the eloquent prose you are left with characters that do not engage you on any level.The main male character was so dull & such a loser you felt he deserved everything that happened to him. The only time I felt any sympathy for him was when he embarked on an abusive & homosexual relationship with a young, manipulative man rather than endure any more loneliness. The plot is sparse & in the main predictable, though coupled with one or two inexplicable courses of action by the central characters.Why would you put yourself through great hardship to track a husband you despise to tell him his elderly mother had died!
This novel needed humour, pace & action! Instead you were left with characters you did not care about & pages of beautifully written prose which ultimately became tedious.
