What do you think?
Rate this book
Strangerland: A Family at War
In 1834, twenty-four-year-old Isabella Campbell left England for India, and within two weeks of joining her brother in Bengal had married his best friend. A dashing cavalry officer in the East India Company, Charles Gascoyne swept his young wife on a tour of garrisons, hill stations and vast military cavalcades, to battlefields and beyond.
But after the birth of her ninth baby, Isabella fell ill, and Charles insisted the family should leave India. Not rich enough to buy land back Home, instead he persuaded her they should embark on a new life a pioneers in a nascent British colony on the other side of the New Zealand.
For the sake of her health, Isabella was sent back to England, while Charles went ahead with the children and their governess. When Isabella joined them a year later she found that far from being welcomed, the governess had taken over both the household and Charles's heart. Buried in the bush, they were soon mired in scandal and a power struggle that would tear the family apart.
While battle clouds massed over the Gascoyne family, so New Zealand itself disintegrated into war as British settlers fought the native Maori - and very nearly lost. For Isabella the public became personal when her son Fred was caught up in a massacre perpetrated by a notorious Maori warrior-prophet. When the Gascoynes were joined by their nephew Bamber, more terror lay in store.
Now, a hundred and fifty years on, Helena Drysdale has uncovered a collection of surviving documents and woven together the facts and fabric of her cousins' lives to create a map of one family's journey. This romantic and ultimately tragic tale, set against the little-known turmoil of the Maori Wars (now known as the New Zealand Land Wars), traverses oceans and continents to touch three corners of the empire at the moment that empire was taking shape. Strangerland, a true story, spans two generations while illuminating the story of their times.
But after the birth of her ninth baby, Isabella fell ill, and Charles insisted the family should leave India. Not rich enough to buy land back Home, instead he persuaded her they should embark on a new life a pioneers in a nascent British colony on the other side of the New Zealand.
For the sake of her health, Isabella was sent back to England, while Charles went ahead with the children and their governess. When Isabella joined them a year later she found that far from being welcomed, the governess had taken over both the household and Charles's heart. Buried in the bush, they were soon mired in scandal and a power struggle that would tear the family apart.
While battle clouds massed over the Gascoyne family, so New Zealand itself disintegrated into war as British settlers fought the native Maori - and very nearly lost. For Isabella the public became personal when her son Fred was caught up in a massacre perpetrated by a notorious Maori warrior-prophet. When the Gascoynes were joined by their nephew Bamber, more terror lay in store.
Now, a hundred and fifty years on, Helena Drysdale has uncovered a collection of surviving documents and woven together the facts and fabric of her cousins' lives to create a map of one family's journey. This romantic and ultimately tragic tale, set against the little-known turmoil of the Maori Wars (now known as the New Zealand Land Wars), traverses oceans and continents to touch three corners of the empire at the moment that empire was taking shape. Strangerland, a true story, spans two generations while illuminating the story of their times.
356 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2006
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Helena Drysdale
9 books5 followersHelena Drysdale was born in London and has a degree in History and Art History from Trinity College, Cambridge. After a brief stint working for Walker Books, she wrote reviews of contemporary art for Artscribe Magazine, of which she became co-editor. She has written for a range of newspapers and magazines; lectured to hundreds of institutions; and appeared on many radio programmes. She tutors for the Arvon Foundation and runs writing courses, and edits non-fiction for the Writers' Workshop, an editorial agency. She is currently a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Exeter University. She has received writing awards from the Authors' Foundation and the Kay Blundell Trust, and judges the Society of Authors' Travel Award, and the Travel Writers' Guild Travel Book Award.
She is married to painter Richard Pomeroy and they live in Somerset with their two daughters.
She is married to painter Richard Pomeroy and they live in Somerset with their two daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 12, 2017
It’s not bad
I like the show on Netflix more it’s very interesting my friend told me about it so I checked it out and loved every second of it
I like the show on Netflix more it’s very interesting my friend told me about it so I checked it out and loved every second of it
February 7, 2014
A haunting read about New Zealand's pioneer history. A must read, this book will stay with you for years.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews