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2janie's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
goneabroad71's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
lorrietruck's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book more than I did, which is a shame. I thought the story would be better than it was, but it wasn't that compelling and none of the characters were all that interesting. I bought this book probably ten years ago and it's sat in my bookshelf ever since, so it's a shame it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
jessby's review against another edition
4.0
A very well written book but let down by the ending.
Joseph escapes England with his mother Lilian and new wife Harriet. They arrive in New Zealand, buy some land and start to scratch out a living. Joseph finds a small amount of gold in his creek and is overtaken by colour fever. He abandons his wife and mother and takes on a treacherous journey in the hopes of discovering wealth and prosperity. The geography and climate are superbly described and this novel gives interesting insight into family relationships as well as that private part of ourselves that we keep hidden from everyone.
But the ending!! In the interest of spoilers I won't give detail other than to say it was thoroughly unsatisfactory.
Joseph escapes England with his mother Lilian and new wife Harriet. They arrive in New Zealand, buy some land and start to scratch out a living. Joseph finds a small amount of gold in his creek and is overtaken by colour fever. He abandons his wife and mother and takes on a treacherous journey in the hopes of discovering wealth and prosperity. The geography and climate are superbly described and this novel gives interesting insight into family relationships as well as that private part of ourselves that we keep hidden from everyone.
But the ending!! In the interest of spoilers I won't give detail other than to say it was thoroughly unsatisfactory.
margaret21's review against another edition
4.0
This is a story of hope and despair. Set in New Zealand during the 1860s Gold Rush, we meet recently-married Joseph and Harriet Blackstone and his mother Lilian, attempting to carve out a new life very different from their experiences in Norfolk.
Their different characters are slowly revealed to us, as is the landscape of New Zealand, and it this gradual unveiling which carried me through the book. Some of the more minor characters are somewhat less successful - I never quite believed in Edwin, the child of Harriet's only friends. But the gradual despair of Joseph, the developing strength of Harriet continued to absorb my attention.
Some aspects of the story are a very slow burn indeed, and the narrative is more successful for it. Why does his former sweetheart Rebecca Millward continue to haunt Joseph? Why is the Chinese reclusive vegetable seller intermittently part of the story? You will find out!
This book paints a vivid, richly-painted picture of the lives of these early settlers in a wild and often unforgiving landscape. It's the sort of absorbing story I've come to expect from Rose Tremain.
Their different characters are slowly revealed to us, as is the landscape of New Zealand, and it this gradual unveiling which carried me through the book. Some of the more minor characters are somewhat less successful - I never quite believed in Edwin, the child of Harriet's only friends. But the gradual despair of Joseph, the developing strength of Harriet continued to absorb my attention.
Some aspects of the story are a very slow burn indeed, and the narrative is more successful for it. Why does his former sweetheart Rebecca Millward continue to haunt Joseph? Why is the Chinese reclusive vegetable seller intermittently part of the story? You will find out!
This book paints a vivid, richly-painted picture of the lives of these early settlers in a wild and often unforgiving landscape. It's the sort of absorbing story I've come to expect from Rose Tremain.
ugla's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
mcbethnz's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting story set in early Canterbury and the gold fields of the West Coast.
meghar's review
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I’ve given this book one star because the description of the landscape and setting were generally quite evocative, but otherwise this was a dreadfully written book with flat, unlikeable characters with no arcs, and no drive to the sparse, meandering plot.
Everything is very surface-level, particularly concerning the single Māori character Pare, and there appears to have been little in-depth research regarding Māori customs and lifestyle of this time period.
The author has a preoccupation with shock factor; scenes of sexual assault, forced abortion, sex, underage prostitution and death seem to be included not to drive the story forward but to jolt the reader awake from the otherwise uneventful, slow-paced plot. Rather than bringing to light the harsh reality of frontier life these scenes are starkly inappropriate at some points and downright offensive in others.
If you want an engaging, well-researched novel about the New Zealand gold rush that treats its characters of colour as more than flat stereotypes who exist to bolster the white characters’ meagre storyline, read the Luminaries. I only finished The Colour because I genuinely wanted to see how bad it would get; sadly, it did not disappoint in that regard.
Everything is very surface-level, particularly concerning the single Māori character Pare, and there appears to have been little in-depth research regarding Māori customs and lifestyle of this time period.
The author has a preoccupation with shock factor; scenes of sexual assault, forced abortion, sex, underage prostitution and death seem to be included not to drive the story forward but to jolt the reader awake from the otherwise uneventful, slow-paced plot. Rather than bringing to light the harsh reality of frontier life these scenes are starkly inappropriate at some points and downright offensive in others.
If you want an engaging, well-researched novel about the New Zealand gold rush that treats its characters of colour as more than flat stereotypes who exist to bolster the white characters’ meagre storyline, read the Luminaries. I only finished The Colour because I genuinely wanted to see how bad it would get; sadly, it did not disappoint in that regard.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Abortion, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Animal death, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Child death
Minor: Colonisation and Vomit
Content warning regarding abortion:rozereads's review
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
teffin's review against another edition
3.0
liked in general, more than expected, but felt there was somehow not much depth to it. so much death. hated joseph