emigration | Rosie Amber

This was a book about a family who decide to emigrate to New Zealand to leave behind a failed business and give themselves a new start in life. Each member of the family expects a different outcome from the move and the family left in England have their own opinions about the emigration. Martha and her family are tested severely by their choices and for some it’s too much. Is New Zealand the paradise they wished for or the hell they all fear? I related to this book as I have been to New Zealand and I have a friend who emigrated there, leaving behind her own failed business and finding a few demons of her own!

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I’m half way through Morgan’s Run by Colleen McCullough. 883 pages is quite a huge challenge. To start with I was disappointed as I believed it was going to spend the majority of the book in Australia. Colleen McCullough is also the author of The Thorn Birds and I had visions of another epic with the delights of a character played so well by Richard Chamberlain in the film version.

However as the story rolls on the need for the background and the scenes being set become obvious. The appalling conditions of convicts and the decisions of the governments of the day to deport prisoners are eye-opening. I look back and wonder at the karma, we sent our worst people firstly to America and then to Australia. Today Britain looks to America for direction and superiority, while others of us flock to emigrate to Australia where a new life is full of attractions!

Today we take sea and air travel for granted. I’ve just been reading the part where the fleet of boats set sail from Portsmouth to Teneriffe, then they flowed with the currents across the Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro before setting back off to catch the seas which will take them back across to South Africa. I don’t think anyone should moan about it taking just 24 hours to fly from London to Sydney! Will hope to let you know about the rest of the book soon.