The Good Life on Te Muna Road

by Deborah Coddington Random House, paperback, 320 pages $40 The first time Deborah Coddington lived in Martinborough, it was the height of the hippy era, but the music stopped when, crushed by debts, she and her partner Alister Taylor were forced to leave town. Nearly 40 years on, with a successful career as a journalist, a new husband, a stint as a restaurateur and a term in Parliament behind her, Deborah returned to Martinborough not quite sure of the welcome she would receive. She writes of finding a community full of outstanding and entertaining individuals who demonstrate the can-do, all-in-this-together spirit of provincial New Zealand, lays some ghosts to rest, writes movingly about the death of her mother, details the vicissitudes of being a wine grower, and shares the joy of life with her beloved animals.