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5.5" x 8.5" x 0.75" Published in Australia and New Zealand.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 13, 2012
I read this as research for a presentation and essay for one of my University papers. The paper is Christianity in the South Pacific at Auckland University's School of Theology. For this 1st assignment we had to pick one from about 20 names, and we had to assess that person's contribution to the acceptance of Christianity in the South Pacific, i.e. how important and how effective was the contribution.
Having a look at a few of the options, I rather liked this woman Mary Lawry. I also liked the challenge, because the only anything available about her was this novel. There wasn't an awful lot about her husband either, or not that was accessible to me through the University's library connections. So I had to find a lot of resources that gave information around the time and place in order to back up what was in here.
Of course, it helped enormously that Margaret Reeson had done a substantial amount of research in order to write this book, and it's all listed in an academic bibliography at the end. Great! Reeson accessed unpublished letters and diaries written by Mary and her husband as well as published material, and set the novel in diary form so that she could quote the material in a natural way.
This book was not only a brilliant source for my assignment, but it's also extremely readable. I enjoyed it for itself, and have recommended it not only for its insights into life in Australia in the early 1800s and missionary work of the time, but as a good novel.
Having a look at a few of the options, I rather liked this woman Mary Lawry. I also liked the challenge, because the only anything available about her was this novel. There wasn't an awful lot about her husband either, or not that was accessible to me through the University's library connections. So I had to find a lot of resources that gave information around the time and place in order to back up what was in here.
Of course, it helped enormously that Margaret Reeson had done a substantial amount of research in order to write this book, and it's all listed in an academic bibliography at the end. Great! Reeson accessed unpublished letters and diaries written by Mary and her husband as well as published material, and set the novel in diary form so that she could quote the material in a natural way.
This book was not only a brilliant source for my assignment, but it's also extremely readable. I enjoyed it for itself, and have recommended it not only for its insights into life in Australia in the early 1800s and missionary work of the time, but as a good novel.
January 16, 2014
I thought this was going to be like a collection of entries from Mary Lawry's diary, but it's not (which I thought was good.) As well as being an interesting story, it was also interesting to read how life was a couple of centuries ago - especially in places I know. It's a fairly easy read, and I enjoyed it.:)
January 25, 2021
I enjoyed the premise of this story. The author has taken a real person, real events and used diary entries and letters to bring substance and truth to the story. The descriptions were all the more accurate for being the descriptions of Mary herself. However I got a little tired of “... as Walter wrote in his diary/letter...” to introduce the quotes.
My other annoyance, stupid perhaps, as Mary WAS the daughter of a reverend, a wife of a reverend and a sister of a reverend, but it had too much theology, not enough history.
My other annoyance, stupid perhaps, as Mary WAS the daughter of a reverend, a wife of a reverend and a sister of a reverend, but it had too much theology, not enough history.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews