The Settling Earth
Marriage transplants Sarah thousands of miles from home; a failed love affair forces Phoebe to make drastic choices in a new environment; a sudden, shocking discovery brings Mrs Ellis to reconsider her life as an emigrant — The Settling Earth is a collection of ten, interlinked stories, focusing on the British settler experience in colonial New Zealand, and the settlers’ attempts to make sense of life in a strange new land.
Sacrifices, conflict, a growing love for the landscape, a recognition of the succour offered by New Zealand to Maori and settler communities — these are themes explored in the book. The final story in the collection, written by Shelly Davies of the Ngātiwai tribe, adds a Maori perspective to the experience of British settlement in their land.
Available in print and ebook formats from Bookshop.org, Amazon or your favourite bookstore or online retailer.
$18.95
Book Details
| Weight | 159 g |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 203 × 133 mm |
| Extent | 126 pages |
| Format | Paperback |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short story collection |
| Release date | 16 December 2014 |
| ISBN | 9781922200167 |
| Imprint | Odyssey Books |
About The Author
Rebecca Burns
Rebecca Burns is an award-winning writer of short stories, over thirty of which have been published online or in print. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2011, winner of the Fowey Festival of Words and Music Short Story Competition in 2013 (and runner-up in 2014), and has been profiled as part of the University of Leicester’s “Grassroutes Project”—a project that showcases the 50 best transcultural writers in the county.
Vernita Naylor for Readers’ Favorite –
If you are looking for a book with variety, consider getting a copy of The Settling Earth: A Collection of Short Stories by Rebecca Burns with guest writer Shelly Davies. In this book you will be able to enjoy stories from love lost and longing to death. The collection of stories, from The Pickled Eggs to Dottie to Balance, will entice you to want more. Dottie, written by Rebecca, puts me in mind of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Mrs. Gray, a widow, felt that it was her duty to take in unwanted children. For years many would flock to her door to leave their infants and children because they were unable to care for them. It appeared that Mrs. Gray was well off, but no one knew what it meant. It was only assumed that, in her care, their children would be well taken care of. What no one knew was that behind those closed doors was death.
I truly loved reading the stories in The Settling Earth. This is my second review for this author and each time I am pleased with the stories chosen for her collection. I found her debut collection, Catching the Barramundi, a great find. Shelly Davies’ story, Balance, was interesting because she introduced her culture from the Ngatiwai tribe and the familiarity with indigenous stories to tell her tale. In Balance, Haimona was not comfortable with how Hans was treating everyone he encountered, but one day Haimona decided to create balance to make things easier for everyone, especially Laura, Hans’ stepdaughter. These are two of my favorites. Happy reading.