'A tale full of drama and power.' Sunday Times Books
of the Year
'Drysdale's concern for Isabella's puzzling fate makes
her book read like a novel, gripping you all the more
securely because it is true.' Spectator Books of
the Year
'A colourful family history and a fascinating account
of a little-known slice of British colonialism.' Mail
on Sunday
'Not the least of Drysdale's many achievements
in this splendid book is to provide a balanced and gripping
account of Maori-Pakeha (European) relations in the
early days of this historically rich but often overlooked
country.' The Independent
'Fascinating: an account of a brave but dysfunctional
family's trials and tribulations and the succession
of wars and uprisings they were directly or indirectly
involved in, first in India and later in New Zealand.
Strangerland skilfully goes into the heart of British
colonial rule and the problems which led to its inevitable
collapse. A story with all the drama, intrigue and repressed
passion of a Hardy novel, a strange many-layered story,
well told.' Times Literary Supplement
'As the author of four highly praised travel
books, Helena Drysdale is ideally suited to tell this
powerful piece of family history. She has made a wonderful
job of conjuring up the Gascoynes' life in India and
the dreary frugality of their years in New Zealand.
A stimulating, intelligent and richly evocative book.
Spellbinding.' Sunday Times
'Why did everyone turn against Isabella? The
mystery, like life itself, adds to the sense of reality
found in this wonderful book.' The Spectator
From the first page to the last Strangerland is an
extraordinary read. With so much to tell about New Zealand
in the mid 1800s, Drysdale’s gripping storyline
manages to balance historical detail with a cracking
good yarn. Her faithful descriptions of upper-class,
crinolined ladies struggling to create a little bit
of Britain in an unforgiving environment, the battles
between white man and native and the harsh reality of
settling in a wild, wet land so far away from the civilized
home county, are unforgettable.' The Book Magazine
'The poignant tale of Isabella Gascoyne
and her pioneering family, set in its latter half against
the background of the Maori Wars, reads with all the
vim of a novel. Helena Drysdale has researched her subject
impeccably, giving us an absolutely vivid reconstruction
of the intimate fabric of Isabella's life. Her descriptions,
from the heat and dust of the Gascoynes' early life
in India to the scarcely believable hardships of the
pioneer's lot, are among the best I have ever read.'
Daily Mail
'A remarkable slice of family history.
What makes this story more interesting than most is
the vividness of its telling. Helena Drysdale tells
an extraordinary story well and her descriptions of
life in up-country India and on a failing settler farm
in Moteuaka are as vivid and immediate as one will ever
read.' The Christchurch Press
'It's a story containing a piece of Nelson history
that has escaped the notice of most, I suspect - and
it may capture your imagination, as it did mine.'
Nelson Mail
'Drysdale painstakingly recreates all the smells and
sounds, the sweeping vistas of these two great nations
[India and New Zealand] and paints a remarkable picture
of these vastly different lands. She handles the conflict
between Maori and Pakeha intelligently and with sensitivity.
Strangerland is not only the story of one woman's struggle.
It is the story of our struggle.' New Zealand
Herald
'Although the story of two generations
of one family, this beautifully written book reads mmore
like a novel than conventional historical narrative. Strangerland
is an impressive achievement. It serves to remind us how
rich the sources are for the history of this country,
of how effort and skill can encourage those sources to
yield new and interesting insights, of how much we have
still to understand - and of how writing a biography or
a history can be for the author a journey of self-discovery.'
Otago Daily Times
