Laura is in her early teens in the early 1920s, and her family and personal life is closely linked with kauri timber logging in the Kauaeranga and Waitawheta Valleys near Thames, an area known to many Auckland and Waikato holiday-makers.
Her father works initially on the lokeys (steam driven locomotives hauling timber out of the bush), but after an injury requiring surgery and a slow recovery, her mother becomes the main earner as a bush camp cook; Laura is her offsider.
All aspects of the kauri timber enterprise are described, family life, bush camps, the selection and felling, and moving of the logs out of the bush. There are several kauri drives. Laura is once given the privilege of tripping the dam that releases the pent-up dam and thousands of waiting logs that hurtle down the valley towards the sea. Characters vary, from steady bushmen to elusive men who warrant police inquiries. Laura learns not to ask questions.
Laura’s personal story has interest and sometimes suspense: themes of family, friendship, school, work, leisure and romance all appear, but very differently from what young readers will know today, so the book, in the My Story series, is valuable as a historical reconstruction of life a century ago.
Her father works initially on the lokeys (steam driven locomotives hauling timber out of the bush), but after an injury requiring surgery and a slow recovery, her mother becomes the main earner as a bush camp cook; Laura is her offsider.
All aspects of the kauri timber enterprise are described, family life, bush camps, the selection and felling, and moving of the logs out of the bush. There are several kauri drives. Laura is once given the privilege of tripping the dam that releases the pent-up dam and thousands of waiting logs that hurtle down the valley towards the sea. Characters vary, from steady bushmen to elusive men who warrant police inquiries. Laura learns not to ask questions.
Laura’s personal story has interest and sometimes suspense: themes of family, friendship, school, work, leisure and romance all appear, but very differently from what young readers will know today, so the book, in the My Story series, is valuable as a historical reconstruction of life a century ago.
reviewed by Rob Finlay
4 comments:
Excellent book - Orewa College
Excellent Book
This is a great book with rich vocab that edges you to keep on reading. The best part about that i think is that i know where the book is being taken place, in Thames and Kauaeranga.
Courtney - Orewa College
This book is great once you get into it. It has rich vocabulary, and describes everything really well. Sofia, Orewa college
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