Showing results by author "D.W Lovett - translator" in All Categories

As the nineteenth century draws to a close, the struggle for women’s suffrage has finally reached New Zealand. But when the tide of change rolls in, it threatens to engulf two young women from very different backgrounds, who are coming of age amid the tumult.

Hardworking London governess Helen Davenport longs for a family of her own but knows the prospect of finding a suitable husband grows dimmer each year. Then she spots an advertisement seeking wives for the churchgoing bachelors of colonial New Zealand and begins an affectionate correspondence with a gentleman farmer.Meanwhile, not far away in Wales, society life bores Gwyneira Silkham, beautiful, daring daughter of a wealthy sheep breeder.

The dawning twentieth century brings change to New Zealand - and new opportunities for any woman bold enough to grasp them. Atamarie Turei, whose mother fought for suffrage, has enrolled as the first female student at the Canterbury College of Engineering. On a surveying trip she meets Richard Pearse, who shares her passion for aviation. Being part Maori, part white, and thoroughly independent, Atamarie is soon vilified by Richard’s conservative farm community, forcing her to navigate the next step in a liberating life.

New Zealand, 1893: William Martyn is better educated and more cultivated than the other men breaking their backs searching for gold near Queenstown. William is the son of landed Irish nobility, and he comes to town ready to invest in the best equipment. On his search for supplies, he encounters spirited and beautiful young Elaine O’Keefe, who promptly falls in love with him.

In mid-nineteenth-century Ireland, charming Kathleen and dashing Michael harbor secrets and dreams. Imagining a life beyond the kitchen and fields of the wealthy family they both work for, they plot to leave their homeland, marry, and raise the child Kathleen is secretly carrying. The luck of the Irish, however, is not on their side. Soon, they find themselves swept up in circumstances they never could have fathomed. Kathleen is forced to marry against her will and immigrate to New Zealand.

The great-granddaughter of Gwyneira McKenzie - who arrived in New Zealand as a naïve young bride in In the Land of the Long White Cloud - Gloria Martyn has enjoyed an idyllic childhood at Kiward Station, her family’s sprawling sheep farm in the Canterbury Plains. When her parents send word from Europe that it’s time for Gloria to become a proper “lady” by attending boarding school half a world away in England, Gloria must leave everything and everyone she loves most in the world, including her steadfast protector Jack McKenzie.

In the chaos of World War II, Polish teenagers Helena and Luzyna Grabowski have lost everything. Without parents or a home, they are shipped to a refugee camp in Persia, where the days ahead hold only darkness. When they hear that orphans are being selected for relocation to New Zealand, Helena is filled with hope - until the officials say they have a place only for her younger sister. On the morning she is to be transported, Luzyna fails to join the chosen group, and Helena takes her place.

Antonio loses his job through no fault of his own. What's worse: after a brutal confrontation with his boss, he even risks going to prison. Disillusioned, aimless, and full of hate, Anto wanders the streets of the German metropolis he calls home. Driven by unconstrained inner rage and frustration, he and a group of friends leave a trail of violence and devastation.