The Colour

I love historical fiction and am always blown away by the amount of research that must be required to recreate the sounds, smells, and look of times past. Rose Tremain has mastered the form as well as anyone and amazingly, she also writes beautifully crafted, rich, and thoughtful contemporary novels. I have enjoyed every one of her books that I have read, including her most recent, The Colour. In this novel, she transports us to the New Zealand gold rush of the 1860s. It’s a dark book, peopled by unhappy, emotionally stultified, and desperate characters who struggle to escape the transgressions and failures of their lives prior to coming to New Zealand. For the most part, what they experience is misery, horror, and even more intense failure. But there is also redemption, at least for the central character, Harriet. In Harriet, Tremain has given us a memorable character of astonishing strength and good will, who after many setbacks, experiences a sensual awakening, material success, and the realization of her dreams of independence and discovery.