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Family Drama
19th
Century
New
Zealand, Scotland
Although not divided as such,
this is a book of three parts. In the beginning we meet James Bantrie, a
Scottish minister who is unwilling to meet the changes imposed by the Scottish
church – the 'Disruption' of the title. He secures an appointment as minister
on a fairly remote Scottish island where nearly all of the few inhabitants are
employed in the slate mines. Almost at once he is beset by doubts and guilt
that he has taken his family away from a degree of luxury. He and his wife,
Judith, befriend a widow, Jessie Dundas, a woman shunned by the islanders,
Though she is respectable, she does have a past. We also meet Alexander Beaton, a doctor whose hopes of inheriting
his father's practice are dashed when his elder brother returns and is given
the honour. Separately, they decide to take up an offer for Scots to settle in
New Zealand, Jessie travelling with the Bantrie family. Another good reason for
the title.
The second part is the voyage in
which a few more characters are introduced and finally we follow their varying
fortunes on arrival in their new home, their adjustment to the new conditions
and interaction with the native Maoris.
Throughout these three important
phases, Ms Withall never flags and holds the reader’s interest at all times.
She is not afraid to portray her protagonists as nothing less than normal human
beings, none of them infallible, all doing and saying things in common with
their personalities and situations as the author develops their characters. Nor
is she afraid to kill off a character or two on the way.
This a large book of nearly 500
pages, yet I found it difficult to put down and completed a full reading in
just a couple of days.
But ….
The author has been very badly
let down by her editors/publisher. There are a number of typos, spelling mistakes and
punctuation errors. 'Born' for 'borne' on two occasions, for example. The
character of Tobias Leny changes a couple of times to 'Levy' and that of
Eleanor Parker switched from 'Nellie' to 'Ellie' and back again. Although pounds shillings and pence are used
regularly, there is one instance of 'thirty shillings and thirty pence' – surely
'2s and 6d' to be consistent? These, I feel are not the fault of the writer,
but of an editor/proof reader and should have been picked up well before the
printing stage. For me they mar an extremely interesting and well-written book.
I wholeheartedly suggest a re-edit and reprint - this would have rated a 5* Discovered Diamond without the mistakes.
I don't know whether the author
has plans for a sequel, but there is plenty of scope for one as the remaining
characters – and the children of course – have plenty of mileage left within
them.
All in all, then, a thoroughly
enjoyable story, despite the bloopers. It is well-written and the author
displays a remarkable knowledge of mining and 'primitive' medical issues. I was
also impressed by the diverse characters and their progress.
© Richard Tearle
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Richard Tearle, I suspect this book did not get a professional edit because I did a "look inside" and did not see a link to acknowledgements. It always boggles my mind when an author, after putting her blood, sweat, and tears into the novel, doesn't go that one critical step of having it reviewed by an editor or at least, proofread.
ReplyDeleteJoansz - I cannot speak for the author, obviously, but the book was published by a publishing house which seem to deal with a lot of Indie writers: this is not the first time I have come across such instances. I think it would be wrong of me to publicly name the publishers here and we don't know the sort of contract the writer may have had. I am aware that books published by established, mainstream houses sometimes contain errors and, had it been just one or two then I wouldn't have mentioned it. But there were too many, sadly, and this marred an otherwise excellent book. I attach no blame to the author. I agree with your comment, thank you ....
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