Station Life in New Zealand
New Zealand Classics Edition. Published by Golden Press in 1973. Boards faded top and bottom, shelf worn, otherwise good second-hand condition. Name sticker on first page and some wear to dust-jacket.
Lady Barker's sparkling narrative describes her life on a Canterbury sheep station in the 1850's. No prim Victorian lady content with domestic activities, the young and vivacious Lady Barker insisted on being included in every adventure. The exhilaration of sleeping out in the open and burning off tussock just for the thrill of it, the joy of a crisp Canterbury morning, the pathos of a baby's death, the hospitality of a bachelor runholder, the drama of being snowbound without food when the servants have taken to their beds 'to die warm', all are recounted in an intimate style which makes this tale seem still fresh from the pen. When Station Life in New Zealand was first published in 1870 it was very successful in England and was translated into French and German. One hundred years later it is New Zealand's most popular tale of the pioneering days.