FROST AND THE FIRE

by Ruth Park ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1957

The gold fields, with their make-shift towns, in New Zealand in the 1860's is the setting for this story of life and love lived at its barest. The diggers (not miners, for all they could do was scratch the earth) were Scottish, Irish and Chinese. Many of them were old hands at following the rumor of gold:- Mother Jerusalem, alias Bell McQueen, a wizened, canny washerwoman, who christened and brought up Currency, bequeathing to the girl some of her own honesty and shrewdness; Shannadore, the renegade priest, with whom Currency fell hopelessly in love; and the Law family, especially Tatty, who befriended Currency and gave her in marriage to Pigello whom Currency loved second-best because he needed her. Recounted is the wandering in search of a strike, the havoc wrecked by floods and snows, the jealousy over land and the occasional loyalty between friends which gave purpose to their efforts. This offers a gallery of fantastic characters conveyed in graphic language.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1957

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1957

Categories: FICTION