Leap of Faith by Jenny Pattrick

A vivid novel about ingenuity and hard slog, crooks and dreamers, bootleggers and love.

Billy is a young, impressionable dreamer. In 1907, at only 14 years old, he strikes off on his own, keen to prove himself an able worker on the new railroad. It's being cut through steep mountainsides and across deep gullies to join the two ends of the Main Trunk Line. Also drawn to the remote worker settlements are miners from Denniston, young men fresh off the boat, sly-groggers, temperance campaigners, women following their menfolk, local Maori and a varied assortment of people after a new life or a quick buck. Among them is a preacher, Gabriel Locke, who is running from a shady past and determined to avoid the daily grind. With untimely and suspicious deaths, the horrendous weather, impossible deadlines, the rugged landscape and a blossoming romance, it will take a lot more than a leap of faith for this disparate group to complete the railroad and build the magnificent Makatote viaduct ...

Jenny Pattrick takes us on a journey into the world of early New Zealand railway work and its often dangerous environment.

This book particularly appealed to me with Billy going out on his own at such a young age. I remember my own father telling me of leaving home at 14 to work on the fishing boats in the Arctic Ocean and the harsh, freezing conditions they survived through. I found myself comparing situations and wondering how young boys of today would cope. Jenny Pattrick, like so many great fiction writers, uses the experiences of real people to develop her characters. What would my father’s or your father’s stories become in the hands of a writer like her? Would their voices be used to create a character like Billy?
 
Identified by Nicky Pellegrino as 'one of this country's most talented storytellers', it has been said that she creates 'an authentic stage for a cast of characters who interact in ways that always ring true' (The Christchurch Press).

Reviewed by Hastings District Libraries

Jenny Pattrick is in Hawkes Bay for the Harcourts Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival Readers & Writers programme. Don’t miss her Family Fiction with Mary-anne Scott in the Spiegeltent, Havelock North Village Green, Saturday 30 Sept, 5.30pm and Keeping the Faith at the MTG Century Theatre, Napier, Sunday 1 Oct, 11.00am. We’ll see you there!

Catalogue link:  Leap of Faith

Running Towards Danger by Tina Clough

It was a treat to come across this psychological thriller written by Hawke's Bay's own Swedish crime writer Tina Clough, who has lived in New Zealand for many years.

Tina has written a novel with an interesting premise, great characters and a fast-paced plot.

The story starts in Auckland, with a shocked Karen witnessing the fatal drive-by shooting of her seemingly quiet lodger. When the dead man's drug associates come looking for Karen she begins to fear for her life, so she flees and eventually settles in Riverton, Hawke's Bay (otherwise known as Clive).

Karen becomes Cara and attempts to construct a life without leaving an electronic trail, (not without difficulty in our digital age and small country) with few possessions and working casual jobs for cash. She begins to settle into her new life and makes friends; including a tentative romantic attachment to Andy, but can she entrust him with information about her past?
Suspense builds as Cara's safety is threatened, with lots of tension and action when danger is imminent.

On a lighter note I can now amuse myself every time I drive through Clive - 'this must be that bridge!', 'this is where the train incident must have been!'

Running Towards Danger is highly recommended and I look forward to watching Tina's future success.

*Havelock Library hosts Tina Clough as a guest speaker at the 2015 Publishers' Book Expo on Wednesday 18 November at 6.45pm (tickets $5 from the libraries).

Posted by Katrina

Catalogue link: Running Towards Danger

Don't Call Me Stupid by Rewia

This is the heartwarming story of Rewia, a young woman with cerebral palsy and her struggle to get out of the intellectually disabled system into which she had been misguidedly placed.

Don't miss your opportuninty to meet this inspiring author!

Rewia will be in Hastings Library, Saturday 6 December, 2 - 3.30pm. 

 

Stockists:

If you would like to purchase Rewia's book it is available as an eBook:

Don't Call Me Stupid by Rewia - Amazon Kindle Version

Don't Call Me Stupid by Rewia - Kobo Version



For local stockists of the book please contact:

The Flower Barrow - 229 Gloucester Street, Taradale
Paper Plus - 285 Gloucester Street, Taradale

Artmosphere Gallery - 1307 SH2 Waipawa - Otane

Central Print and Design - 29 Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau
Paper Plus - 77 Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau

The RRP is $19.95.

Reviews:

Review: Don't Call Me Stupid by Rewia
Review by Rachel Wise
This review first appeared in The Link, 3 December, 2014.

Author Visit: Joanne Drayton discusses The Search for Anne Perry

Photo of Joanne Drayton by Bradley Fafejta

You've been convicted of murdering your best friend's mother in a crime that shocked New Zealand...

How do you live your life after such an event?

NZ Book Month - Joanne Drayton will be discussing her book The Search for Anne Perry at Havelock North Library on Wednesday 20 March at 6.00pm.

Tickets $5.00, now available from Havelock North, Hastings and Flaxmere Libraries.
__________________________

Until 1994, the world knew Anne Perry as the writer of bestselling crime fiction at the peak of her writing career. But following the release of Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures about the sensational 1954 Parker-Hulme murders, came the shocking revelation that Anne Perry started life as Juliet Hulme, the teenager jointly convicted of murdering her friend’s mother.

Life would never be the same for Anne. That a convicted murderer had gone on to become a celebrated crime writer with worldwide sales of over 25 million books was tantalizing enough. But careful analysis of her writing reveals that these were more than simple crime stories; spiritual and philosophical complexities thread the way through Anne Perry’s works and the characters she creates. Was Anne, in fact, revealing more about herself in the characters she was creating? Acclaimed biographer Joanne Drayton takes on the challenge of exploring Anne Perry’s writing to uncover her world view and her compulsion to write. The famously private Perry agreed to be comprehensively interviewed for the book and has allowed Joanne unparalleled access to her friends, relatives, colleagues and archives. The result is a compelling read with revelations that will resonate with the reader long after the final page.


Search Catalogue and reserve online
The Search for Anne Perry by Joanne Drayton, 2012


Also see our earlier post