Coal Flat

Longman Paul Ltd, Auckland, 1963. Creased spine, cover worn at extremities, foxing to page edges and foxing to cover.

Between the high barrier of the Southern Alps and the coast that faces Australia lies the strip of New Zealand which is the West Coast. Coal Flat is a 'Coast' mining town in the late nineteen forties. The mine is now closed, and the name is not on any map, but the lines and features of its life are marked on the mind of every Coast dweller: the small, close-knit community, the traditions of unionism, working together and hospitality. A young teacher returns to Coal Flat from the army and is unwillingly involved in a strike crisis, which at first he cannot take seriously. Because he tries to bring to Coal Flat knowledge and experience gained in his years away, he finds himself in conflict with the township which claims his love and loyalties. His own emotional life is also deeply involved.