The House of Strife [Large Print, Import] [Hardcover]

Maurice Shadbolt (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd; Large Print Ed edition (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708933998
• ISBN-13: 978-0708933992
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,076,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read, May 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The House of Strife (Hardcover)

This novel is the third in a trilogy about the wars that occurred after Britain colonised Aotearoa/New Zealand, the other two being Monday's Warriors and Season of the Jew which are both excellent. A good historical account can be found in The New Zealand Wars by James Belich; and a perusal of this may lead to surprise at the things Maurice Shadbolt did NOT make up. This book is narrated by Ferdinand Wildblood looking back some 40 years from the 1880's. In his youth he plagiarised a manuscript submitted to his publishing house, and began a career writing cheap novels about New Zealand, crammed to the brim with nubile Maori maidens and bloody conflict between savages. Forced by circumstance to go to New Zealand, he finds himself as a go-between in a real war of a quite different character. One of the participants, John (Hone) Heke wants to create a story out of his life, and the novel is about the duel between truth and story; expectation and reality. More than that it is a good read, I particularly liked the dry ironic narration contrasted with some of the grim material.