What do you think?
Rate this book
Union Belle
In 1951 1000 Waikato Miners went on strike to support their brothers in the Seaman's Union engaged in the 1951 Waterfront Lockout. Times were tough and when the Government implemented harsh and heavy-handed emergency regulations, families were divided along political lines, and bitter accusations of sabotage and treachery began to tear small mining communities apart. Against this emotive backdrop, in the tiny mining village of Pukemiro, a story of love and treachery is also being played out in the personal lives of some of those intimately connected with the strike. Ellen McCabe, wife of the local union secretary and hero, Thomas McCabe, and a life-long Union woman, finds herself caught up the passion of the fight and a new found passion of her own - when a charismatic war veteran, Jack Vaughan comes to Pukemiro and befriends her husband. In a powerful tale of love and conflict Ellen is forced to examine her loyalties and make heart shattering choices, as the country and community around her is pulled apart. A full-blooded romance set in times of conflict, Union will do for the Waikato what Denniston Rose did for the West Coast - and much more.
391 pages, Hardcover
First published March 11, 2005
13 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Challinor
24 books250 followersBorn in Huntly, she holds a PhD in New Zealand history from the University of Waikato. Challinor has worked as a fulltime writer and historian since 2000.
Primarily known for her historical novels, Deborah Challinor’s first published books were non-fiction history books, including the best-selling Grey Ghosts: New Zealand Vietnam Vets Talk About Their War (Hodder Moa Beckett, 1998).
Her first historical novel, Tamar, was published in 2002 and has been reprinted six times. Tamar is set in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay and South Africa and covers the period from 1879 until the Boer War. The series continues with White Feathers (2003) and Blue Smoke (2004).
Union Belle (2005) tells the love story of a young woman caught up in the 1951 waterfront strike, and Kitty (2006) is set in the Bay of Islands in nineteenth century New Zealand. Both novels have been at the top of the New Zealand fiction bestseller list.
Attention to historical detail is an important part of writing for Challinor. ‘I base my novels on actual historical events, and it’s very important to me to research those events in depth and to present them accurately,’ she says.
Reviewing Union Belle in North and South magazine in April 2005, Warwick Roger commented that: ‘You can smell the beer and cigarette smoke in the public bar of the Huntly Hotel, hear the band at the Saturday night dances at the miner’s hall … it’s a book I kept sneaking back to whenever I had a spare quarter hour, eager to advance the story.’
Fire (HarperCollins, 2007), Challinor's seventh novel, is set in Auckland during the hype leading up to the royal visit of 1953, but is based on the Ballantyne’s department store fire of 1947 in Christchurch. A powerful and dramatic story of passion, ambition and greed, it became a number one bestseller.
Amber, the sequel to Kitty, was published later in 2007 and also became a bestseller. Amber opens in New Zealand in 1945, on the eve of the Northern War in the Bay of Islands, in which Kitty is caught up. Sent to Auckland away from the fighting, Kitty encounters an orphaned part-Maori girl she names Amber. Together they return to the Bay of Islands, where both Kitty must risk her own life to save Amber’s.
Isle of Tears (HarperCollins NZ Ltd, 2009) is a story about 14-year-old Scottish immigrant Isla McKinnon and her younger brothers and sister. When they are orphaned they are adopted by Taranaki Maori and become caught up in the wars in Taranaki, the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.
A revised edition of Challinor’s Grey Ghosts (HarperCollins NZ) was published in 2009. This edition included a new chapter on how the New Zealand Vietnam veteran community has fared since the book was first published in 1998.
Primarily known for her historical novels, Deborah Challinor’s first published books were non-fiction history books, including the best-selling Grey Ghosts: New Zealand Vietnam Vets Talk About Their War (Hodder Moa Beckett, 1998).
Her first historical novel, Tamar, was published in 2002 and has been reprinted six times. Tamar is set in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay and South Africa and covers the period from 1879 until the Boer War. The series continues with White Feathers (2003) and Blue Smoke (2004).
Union Belle (2005) tells the love story of a young woman caught up in the 1951 waterfront strike, and Kitty (2006) is set in the Bay of Islands in nineteenth century New Zealand. Both novels have been at the top of the New Zealand fiction bestseller list.
Attention to historical detail is an important part of writing for Challinor. ‘I base my novels on actual historical events, and it’s very important to me to research those events in depth and to present them accurately,’ she says.
Reviewing Union Belle in North and South magazine in April 2005, Warwick Roger commented that: ‘You can smell the beer and cigarette smoke in the public bar of the Huntly Hotel, hear the band at the Saturday night dances at the miner’s hall … it’s a book I kept sneaking back to whenever I had a spare quarter hour, eager to advance the story.’
Fire (HarperCollins, 2007), Challinor's seventh novel, is set in Auckland during the hype leading up to the royal visit of 1953, but is based on the Ballantyne’s department store fire of 1947 in Christchurch. A powerful and dramatic story of passion, ambition and greed, it became a number one bestseller.
Amber, the sequel to Kitty, was published later in 2007 and also became a bestseller. Amber opens in New Zealand in 1945, on the eve of the Northern War in the Bay of Islands, in which Kitty is caught up. Sent to Auckland away from the fighting, Kitty encounters an orphaned part-Maori girl she names Amber. Together they return to the Bay of Islands, where both Kitty must risk her own life to save Amber’s.
Isle of Tears (HarperCollins NZ Ltd, 2009) is a story about 14-year-old Scottish immigrant Isla McKinnon and her younger brothers and sister. When they are orphaned they are adopted by Taranaki Maori and become caught up in the wars in Taranaki, the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.
A revised edition of Challinor’s Grey Ghosts (HarperCollins NZ) was published in 2009. This edition included a new chapter on how the New Zealand Vietnam veteran community has fared since the book was first published in 1998.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 29, 2015
1951 and the waterfront worker’s strike hits the country of New Zealand. I knew nothing about this episode in history so from that point of view it was interesting. Also the effect it had on the men in the coal mining community of Pukemiro and their wives and families. Ellen McCabe supports her husband’s stance and is prepared to play her part in scrimping and making do over the lean times. Then Jack Vaughn comes to town and suddenly things Ellen was so sure about before become less clear. There are choices and consequences of those choices.
This was a novel where I often found my sympathies lay more with some of the men than the women. As for Ellen, I found it hard to relate to her and the decisions she makes.
However I enjoyed reading about this time in New Zealand history. Never having been involved in a strike situation or had a husband in such a situation, I thought the reactions sounded realistic. The situation was brought to life well. I did think some of the bad language used sounded more like 2000s than it did 1950s though. It is worth reading though for a glimpse into this time in history.
This was a novel where I often found my sympathies lay more with some of the men than the women. As for Ellen, I found it hard to relate to her and the decisions she makes.
However I enjoyed reading about this time in New Zealand history. Never having been involved in a strike situation or had a husband in such a situation, I thought the reactions sounded realistic. The situation was brought to life well. I did think some of the bad language used sounded more like 2000s than it did 1950s though. It is worth reading though for a glimpse into this time in history.
May 11, 2017
It was 2004 when Cathy Martin knocked on a door in preparation to interview the elderly Mrs Ellen McCabe. A university student studying history, she was trying to learn all she could about the strike which took place in 1951 in the little mining village of Pukemiro and across New Zealand; a strike which lasted eighteen long weeks and almost brought the country to its knees.
Ellen had been married to Thomas McCabe for ten years and they had two boys, Neil and Davey whom they both doted on. Tom was the local union secretary and Ellen supported him wholeheartedly. She was from a mining family – her father Alf was greatly respected and although he’d since retired, he still had many friends among the miners.
When the strike began there were around one thousand members involved across the different mines. The government’s regulations were ridiculous and the miners weren’t having any of it. Ellen and Tom, and the rest of their friends were sure the strike would end amicably and achieve what the miners wanted. But gradually the families became impoverished and even with the emergency packages they all received, it wasn’t enough.
When a new face appeared among the men, Tom told Ellen he was from away and had moved to Pukemiro for a change. Jack Vaughan befriended Tom and the other men, and attended the meetings and dances along with them all. But Ellen saw something in Jack that she hadn’t seen in anyone before. And she didn’t know what to do about it…
Union Belle is another profound story from the pen of Aussie/New Zealand author Deborah Challinor. Historical fiction but not as far back as her usual tales, it’s an interesting and intriguing novel which incorporates fact and fiction throughout. Fraught with emotion - the heartache of families struggling to make ends meet; the humiliation of having to ask for credit just so they could feed the children; and the constant friction between the adults – all made Union Belle a wonderful read. Highly recommended.
Ellen had been married to Thomas McCabe for ten years and they had two boys, Neil and Davey whom they both doted on. Tom was the local union secretary and Ellen supported him wholeheartedly. She was from a mining family – her father Alf was greatly respected and although he’d since retired, he still had many friends among the miners.
When the strike began there were around one thousand members involved across the different mines. The government’s regulations were ridiculous and the miners weren’t having any of it. Ellen and Tom, and the rest of their friends were sure the strike would end amicably and achieve what the miners wanted. But gradually the families became impoverished and even with the emergency packages they all received, it wasn’t enough.
When a new face appeared among the men, Tom told Ellen he was from away and had moved to Pukemiro for a change. Jack Vaughan befriended Tom and the other men, and attended the meetings and dances along with them all. But Ellen saw something in Jack that she hadn’t seen in anyone before. And she didn’t know what to do about it…
Union Belle is another profound story from the pen of Aussie/New Zealand author Deborah Challinor. Historical fiction but not as far back as her usual tales, it’s an interesting and intriguing novel which incorporates fact and fiction throughout. Fraught with emotion - the heartache of families struggling to make ends meet; the humiliation of having to ask for credit just so they could feed the children; and the constant friction between the adults – all made Union Belle a wonderful read. Highly recommended.
September 7, 2018
I hadn’t been aware of the history of strikes by miners in New Zealand. I had heard some stories of watersides striking but not from this era. So I found this book really interesting as it explored these themes, and also portrayed a picture of life in small town New Zealand in the early 1950s. It is well written with likeable characters, and an interesting plot. A really good read.
April 8, 2021
Another good read from Challinor.
Some really compelling interpersonal relationships, and that small town claustrophobia was definitely there too.
Learned a bit more about the 1951 general strike while I was reading too.
Some really compelling interpersonal relationships, and that small town claustrophobia was definitely there too.
Learned a bit more about the 1951 general strike while I was reading too.
June 20, 2021
Lived in the Waikato for 20 years so was familiar with most of the place names. Knew about the miners’ strike, but not in this detail. A great background for a good story, well written as are all Deborah Challinor’s books and I didn’t want to put it down.
August 30, 2017
Interesting story set around the 1951 strikes which are part of our history, set in an area which I know well
November 19, 2018
The author is one of my favorites. She is from Znew Zealand and provides a well- detailed account of the people, culture, and historical events.
December 3, 2018
Fantastic story about life in New Zealand during the union strikes. I love how she's brought history alive.
September 12, 2020
This was a fascinating look at a part of Waikato history that I did not know about (and I lived in the Waikato as a child - Huntly was our nearest town). Another good book by Deborah Challinor.
August 3, 2022
Good little quick holiday read. Fascinating setting of the coal miner's strike.
February 2, 2024
History always repeats. Especially with Labours emergency regulations, they’ve played the same cards again in the 2020s.
November 30, 2014
It's 1951, and the waterfront workers' strike has started. Its effects are beginning to be felt in other areas around the country.
Ellen McCabe is the wife of a coal miner in the Waikato town of Pukemiro. Her life revolves around bringing up her two sons and supporting her husband. When his union votes to lay down their tools in support of the waterfront workers, she's there ready to play her part in the fight.
Despite the potential for poverty brought by the strike, she thinks her life is near-perfect, until newcomer Jack Vaughan arrives and takes her breath away. At first she fights it - how could she even look at another man when she loves her husband? But the feeling doesn't fade...
"Union Belle is a story of love, duty and passion played out against the backdrop of the infamous strike that turned friends into enemies, shattered communities and almost brought New Zealand to its knees." (back cover)
This is a great read from an excellent author. I have no hesitation in recommending it.
Ellen McCabe is the wife of a coal miner in the Waikato town of Pukemiro. Her life revolves around bringing up her two sons and supporting her husband. When his union votes to lay down their tools in support of the waterfront workers, she's there ready to play her part in the fight.
Despite the potential for poverty brought by the strike, she thinks her life is near-perfect, until newcomer Jack Vaughan arrives and takes her breath away. At first she fights it - how could she even look at another man when she loves her husband? But the feeling doesn't fade...
"Union Belle is a story of love, duty and passion played out against the backdrop of the infamous strike that turned friends into enemies, shattered communities and almost brought New Zealand to its knees." (back cover)
This is a great read from an excellent author. I have no hesitation in recommending it.
January 4, 2013
I found this book terrible. I wouldn't have finished it if not for being on holiday and not having any other options with me. I've read Deborah Challinor before - thanks to NZ Book Month a few years ago I got the Kitty/Amber/Band of Gold set - and found it ok enough. But this, I was really disappointed. The historical aspect was set as a side plot - typical in historical fiction - but in this case I felt like I learnt little of the history and the mopey love story did nothing for me. The main character gets called "strong" several times throughout the book but I just saw stubborn and selfish. Expected when the characters are teens, not so much in their 30s. Blech.
November 10, 2019
Yet another fantastic read from this author! She has way, a certain way, of bringing New Zealand's history to life. Her characters are human and therefore easy to identify with. Her descriptions of everyday NZ homes and their way of life brings back memories of stories I heard as a child. She effortlessly has put into words an incredibly wonderful read about the strikes in the 1950's and how brave and resilient the families were in the face of real hardship. And of course, how much their brave sacrifice has made NZ a better country; one that can hold it's head high with it's union and striking history.
January 16, 2014
I have really loved the rest of Deborah Challinor's books, which left me really disappointed with this one. I just couldn't click with the main character. I know that interesting characters in books are often the flawed ones, but usually they seem to have some redeeming features. In this case I found the main character very selfish and unreasonable.
January 8, 2016
I rated this higher than the Luminaries because it was actually a better more enjoyable read. Criticised for not being deep enough by some readers I would counter than claim by stating that while recovering from general anaesthetic it was a mighty good read and I was captured by small community and the impacts of the strike. Believable and unpretentious.
September 7, 2008
A great book depicting the old days in small town New Zealand, any one who has a dad or grandfather of this era will relate to the humourous yet detailed image portrayed, very well written and a good historical novel.
February 17, 2011
an insight into another piece of NZ's past, the waterside strikes of 1951.
enjoyed it, the love story was sweet, and all too painfully realistic in the end.
enjoyed it, the love story was sweet, and all too painfully realistic in the end.
January 18, 2016
Loved this book. Deborah Challinor is very talented and I love that she writes fictional stories based on actual events that happened in New Zealand.
April 18, 2016
Loved this book for it's NZ setting, the history and the characters within.
February 17, 2012
Absolutely loved this book, a great fiction set in NZ history.
January 28, 2018
this book took a while yo get into, but loved it. loved he fact as per usual her books have historical references. great read.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews