Touching Snow: A Taranaki Memoir

by Juliet Batten

A memoir of childhood that evokes how the author developed a spiritual connection with the land during her early years growing up in Taranaki, New Zealand. A Maori teacher played an important role, as did a river and a mountain. The story tells of the child’s struggle to overcome bullying at school and home, and to reach the seemingly unattainable snow-capped mountain peak. It’s a story that will inspire many, and also create a vivid sense of a passing era. Set in Taranaki in the 1940s and 50s, the story vividly evokes rural New Zealand, the era of the Tangiwhai Disaster, Sir Edmond Hillary’s ascent of Everest, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth and the entry of the first Maori teachers into mainstream schools. This new book from the author of ‘Celebrating the Southern Seasons’, ‘Growing into Wisdom’ and the prize-winning ‘A Cup of Sunlight’ will touch the hearts of many.

183 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 20, 2019