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The Colour [Paperback]

Rose Tremain
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Book Description

July 20 2004
A sweeping saga of love and greed set during the mid-nineteenth century gold rush in New Zealand.

Joseph and Harriet Blackstone, along with Joseph’s mother Lilian, emigrate from England in search of new beginnings and prosperity in New Zealand. But the harsh land near Christchurch where they settle threatens to destroy them almost before they begin. When Joseph finds gold in the creek, he guiltily hides the discovery from his wife and mother, and is seized by a rapturous obsession with the voluptuous riches awaiting him deep in the earth. Abandoning his farm and family, he sets off alone for the new gold fields over the Southern Alps, a moral wilderness where many others, under the seductive dreams of the “colour,” are violently rushing to their destinies.

Harriet bravely decides to pursue her own journey towards an uncertain future. But nothing has prepared her for what happens when she too arrives at the gold diggings. Amid squalor and confusion, burning heat and icy flood, Harriet Blackstone comes face to face with the true cost of desire.

Hauntingly evocative and, by turns, both moving and terrifying, The Colour is the story of a quest for the impossible, an attempt to mine the complexities of love and in the process discover what it is that makes men and women happy.

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From Amazon

Rose Tremain has long been one of the most vigorous and imaginative of novelists; her sweeping narratives (set against the most vividly realised of canvases) have made her books as dramatic and assured as anything being written today. The Colour represents a further burnishing of her considerable talents; it is a powerful drama of greed and aspiration set in the New Zealand Gold Rush of the mid-19th Century.

Tremain's protagonists are Harriet and Joseph Baxter, who (along with Joseph's mother) leave England for the promise of the new world that New Zealand represents. Needless to say, their relocation comes with many attendant (and nigh-insoluble) problems. But their struggle against the land continues apace until Joseph discovers gold in a nearby creek and ill-advisedly conceals the find from his mother and his wife. Gold fever takes an all-consuming grip upon him, and he leaves the family-owned farm to traverse the gold fields of the Southern Alps. There he will find a strange fate: one that affects those he has left behind as well as him.

As a study of human nature in extremis, this could well be Tremain’s most impressive book. Lacking the elegant stylishness of Restoration, The Colour grants us a fastidiously rendered picture of life lived at the sharp edge. And while her characters are confronted with terrifying decisions that few of us are ever likely to encounter, Tremain’s narrative gifts make it easy to identify with the decisions (both wise and catastrophic) that her characters take. The sense of period is forcefully conveyed, and while this is not as ingratiating a read as such earlier Tremain books as The Swimming Pool Season, her new level of ambition makes it perhaps the author’s most important book yet. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Readers familiar with British writer Tremain's magisterial historical novel, Restoration, or her psychologically acute study of madness, Music & Silence, will not be surprised at the accuracy of historical detail in this elegant and dramatic novel about the mid-19th-century gold rush in New Zealand or by her nuanced portrait of the disintegration of a marriage. Writing at the top of her form, she tells a complex story centering on two immigrants to New Zealand, whose recent marriage represents new hopes for both of them. Joseph Blackstone fled England to rid himself of memories of a shameful act; cold and secretive, he is emotionally constricted by guilt. Strong, spirited ex-governess Harriet Salt has narrowly avoided spinsterdom; to her, New Zealand represents the freedom to explore new horizons. Together with Joseph's mother, they attempt to build a farm on the flats outside of Christchurch, but when Joseph finds gold in the creek, he becomes obsessed by "the colour," as the fabulous metal is known. Abandoning both women, he travels by ship to the west coast, where he encounters hundreds of other desperate men and the clamorous, filthy, dehumanizing conditions in which they live. Later, when Harriet attempts to follow him by land, she cannot cross the gorge between the Southern Alps, justly called "the stairway from hell." By the time she does join him, each of them despises the other, yet the discovery of gold binds them in a new way. From this point on, the narrative, already full of subtleties and surprises, becomes riveting, as nature and human nature collide. There's a wonderful subplot about the mystical connection of a white boy and his Maori nurse, and an inspired depiction of a Chinese gardener who peddles his vegetables and becomes the instrument of Harriet's salvation. With its combination of vivid historical adventure and sensual, late-blooming romance, it's hard to see how this novel can miss winning a new audience for the immensely talented Tremain.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In THE COLOUR Rose Tremain creates a wonderful insightful portrait of individuals drawn into the lure of the New Zealand gold rush in the mid-19th century. Newlyweds Joseph and Harriet Blackstone immigrate to the south island of New Zealand with Joseph's mother Lillian in order to begin a new life on a farm in the untamed countryside. As the Blackstone family settles down to their new life it soon becomes apparent that Joseph and Harriet's marriage is not based on any deep sense of love or devotion. In fact, they are becoming increasingly emotionally distant from each other each day. In addition each is fleeing from a disturbed past in Norfolk, England. After their first year in their new homestead their lives are forever changed when one day Joseph spots a glimpse of the colour, a New Zealand euphemism for the glimmer of gold, in their creek. Keeping is discovery a secret from his wife and mother Joseph soon abandons his dreams of farming and joins the thrust of the gold rush occurring throughout the country in his dreams of striking rich and securing a better life. After he leaves his farm and heads to the west coast Harriet is not far behind with her own agenda.

This book is filled with wonderful images of the hard painstaking life of establishing a farm in the midst of the untamed New Zealand countryside. I felt sympathy for their ever-increasing struggles to remain on their farm. The descriptions of the harsh winters made me appreciate my warm apartment. One of the most interesting parts of this book dealt specifically with the gold rush. I was entranced by the descriptions of men buying mining licenses and claiming a spot of land in order to pan for gold while living in squalor - all the while clinging to the dream of striking rich and cashing in their fortunes. Also intriguing was the varied individuals who developed a business to accommodate the miners such as selling food, lodging, and sometimes their bodies. But despite my enjoyment of this section of this book, I was dismayed by the inclusion of the Maori woman and her connection with the little boy Edwin. Tremain appeared to feel a need to include a Maori storyline but it felt too forced for my own tastes. Furthermore, I felt the story of Pare didn't coincide well with the other storylines and her relationship with Edwin was eerie and unsettling. Regardless, THE COLOUR is a book that quickly grabs your attention and had me guessing the ending until the last couple of pages. I will definitely now read more books from Rose Tremain.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Strange New World (4.5 stars) Dec 5 2003
Format:Hardcover
At the opening of "The Colour," John Blackstone, his mother Lilian and wife Harriet, are huddled in their mud house, shivering through a freezing New Zealand gale. The cob house is especially drafty and cold because John would not listen to anyone's advice and has placed the house in the most disadvantageous place possible. You know from the start that this trio is in for trouble.

After the death of his debt-ridden father, John sells everything remaining when the debt collectors are done with it and takes his mother and new bride to the opposite side of the world for a fresh start. It is the mid-19th century and New Zealand seems as good a place as any to start a farm. But John's decisions are weirdly off-kilter, making everything even harder than it need be. Lilian plots her escape, and Harriet wonders what happened to the fleeting bliss she and her new husband knew while preparing to emigrate. Something is wrong here, something that is exacerbated by the discovery of gold-"the colour" of the title.

This is a rich and mysterious novel, a place where grueling days of sodbusting meet the cloudy mountains of a dreamtime. Rose Tremain has the ability to imbue her story with the kind of deep emotion that cannot be described and do it in a most readable fashion. The setting and the characters of "The Colour " all ring true, including the mystical ties between an English child and a Maori woman. This is an worthy addition to Rose Tremain's earlier novels, which are worth checking out if you haven't done so already. Her books are notable for their strong historical detail and unusual emotional frisson. ---Reviewed by Candace Siegle

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Lust and Love in New Zealand Oct 11 2003
By Liz
Format:Hardcover
Tremain will capture the heart of readers who pine for the lost
and hopeless in love. Selfishness, greed, and other deadly sins move the character Joseph to despicable deeds--so unlike his wife, "Hal-yet" who yearns for the love of being free of the world of 19th century England. The New Zealand landscape comes alive with its aggressiveness in the winter: imagine a snow so deep, cold and ravaging that it can.....Greed has to be a character in the novel as it pushes the plot to an unbelievable ending....why wasn't he killed instead of....
What a movie this book would make!!!!
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