Great read opens door to history
CAPTIVATING, ADVENTUROUS, ADDICTIVE and a darn good read are some of the ways I would describe this young adults novel by Cristina Sanders. It's no surprise to me that the book was the winner of the Storylines Tessa Duder Award.
The New Zealand author, originally from Wellington but now living in Hawke's Bay, has set her historical novel in her new location.
The story follows Eloise and her family as they leave their beloved farm in Cornwall for the promise of a farm in a place called New Zealand.
On the ship she meets Lars, a Norwegian labourer travelling below decks. Although their backgrounds and futures are totally different, fate has other plans for these two.
After a treacherous journey that sees the family disembark in Hawke's Bay a shadow of their former selves, Eloise finds herself making decisions she never thought possible.
Beautifully written and thoroughly enjoyable.
I asked Cristina some questions: How did this story evolve for you?
A few years ago I was sent my family tree from a distant cousin I'd never met. I knew dad was of Norwegian heritage because he joked about being a Viking (explains the family pugnacity), but he never gave us the details. I learned that my family, the Larsens, came to New Zealand on the Høvding ship in 1872. They landed in Ahuriri, walked to the Seventy Mile Bush and became tree-fellers. I'm a sucker for a good story and was hooked. In Norsewood I found a diligent local had pieced together the local history in a large book, and in the National Library I found articles and reports of the Scandi settlements. I dug out old maps and walked around Norsewood to find the settlement, and Napier to sketch out the preearthquake town.
I didn't feel the story was entirely mine — I don't speak Norwegian and many of the early settlers were illiterate. Without this primary source material I needed a frame to view the displacement of the Norwegians to New Zealand so I researched the lives of the Cornish settlers with whom I am more familiar and made them my storytellers. The research was the best part, only a tiny bit of it ends up in the text but in the process I became familiar with my own history.
Any plans to revisit Eloise and her family?
Yep. I'm waiting for the call from my publishers (Author's Life)
What is the key to writing characters that readers engage with?
Good dialogue. They need to speak so you can hear them.
Run us through a typical day when writing a book
Wake up at some unearthly hour and read until daylight. Breakfast and the newspaper. Research, run, write. Repeat. That's about it. Dinner, book and bed.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Sail on a tall ship (that probably counts as research). Hang with the family.
Tell us something surprising about yourself
I write book reviews because I have such a shocking memory it's the only way
I remember what I've read.
What’s next on the agenda?
A shipwreck. A story about one, that is. Not the real
thing.
Top tips for aspiring writers?
Learn the craft of writing. You might fluke it and be a natural genius (and good luck with that), but most writers never stop learning. Own it — tell everyone that you
are a writer.