Feet in Auckland, Heart in Christchurch: A Diary and Photo Album from 1920s New Zealand

Steele Roberts Publishers, Wellington, 2012. Good used condition.

Nearly 90 years after being hidden, a diary and leather-bound photo album have re-emerged. They belonged to a spirited young man named Lance Rosser who died in Christchurch in 1928, aged just 24. In 1923 Lance was working as a grocer in Sockburn. For the sake of his health he left smoggy Christchurch for the cleaner air of Auckland, a trip that was considered almost the equivalent of today's 'Great OE'. The diary chronicles his wide-eyed journey north and what he found when he got to Auckland and began shaping a life.

Lance's diary and photographs give a clear and unique insight into the brief but full life of a headstrong man with dreams in 1920s New Zealand.