New Zealand: A Novel

New Zealand: A Novel spans almost 500 years and covers the respective discoveries of New Zealand by Pacific Islanders and Europeans. From the outset the two stories are interposed. It starts in the 1300’s with the departure of Islanders from Hawaiki in search of land far to the south. The hardy, brown-skinned people who arrive here first call themselves Māori and they call their new home Aotearoa – land of the long, white cloud. The fascinating, eventful and sometimes violent lives of descendants of those first arrivals are traced through the centuries until the arrival of Europeans aboard Captain James Cook’s bark the Endeavour. Cook names the new land New Zealand. Māori call the white intruders pākehā. Their arrival heralds a clash of two vastly different ideologies as European civilization collides head on with indigenous culture. The misunderstandings, tension and bloodshed that follow are relayed as seen through the eyes of one of the Endeavour’s youngest and most engaging crew members, Surgeon’s Assistant Nicholas Young, as the vessel embarks on its historic circumnavigation of the country. Amidst the life-threatening challenges Nicholas faces at sea and on land, the young man finds true love when he meets Anika, a beautiful Māori princess who steals his heart.