Kiwi writer Stephanie Johnson draws on her family history in her latest novel. The story is loosely based on the life of Elizabeth Smith, her great-great-great grandmother, who immigrated to New Zealand in the 1840s and ran a hospital for local Maori. Helped by the haze of laudanum, an elderly Elizabeth – now living in London – recollects her years in New Zealand where she forged a life for herself and her sons. But despite trying to make a fresh start in the strange new land, dark secrets from her past continue to haunt her.
A smart, tenacious woman, Elizabeth felt just as out of place in the Victorian world as she feels in New Zealand. Her love affair with a Maori man is one of the most gripping parts of the novel, as is her complex relationship with her employer Mary Ann. Mary Ann’s inhibitions are expertly juxtaposed with Elizabeth’s freedom of expression (it’s suggested that Mary never consummated her marriage while Elizabeth may have had many love affairs).
The story is heavy with allusion and innuendo, and the language feels authentic. It appears that in real life, Elizabeth went to great lengths to hide details about her past from her own children – including the identity of their father – and in the afterword Stephanie writes, “True history was carefully hidden by Elizabeth herself and may never be written.”
Although aspects of the plot and some characters are purely fictitious, Stephanie wrote parts of the stories from Elizabeth and her son Henry’s actual letters. History lovers will enjoy the high level of detail in this book. Stephanie describes the harsh realities of life in colonial New Zealand with a finesse that transports you to a time gone by and throws in a few winks at the reader, nodding toward what may lie ahead in the young nation’s history.
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