currently reading:

"the wives of henry oades"

i picked this book to read because a portion of this book took place in new zealand. i visited new zealand in 2006 and loved it. it's a gorgeous place! anyway, when i saw this book in a literary newsletter, i was intrigued by it. i did see maori people while i was in nz but they were nice. i guess a lot had changed since the story was based in late 1800's. this book is based on a real-life legal case of a husband having two wives. i have about 100 pages left and it's a good book to read. i cannot imagine losing peter and to have him come back eventually!

plot

When Henry Oades accepts an accountancy post in New Zealand, his wife, Margaret, and their children follow him to exotic Wellington. But while Henry is an adventurer, Margaret is not. Their new home is rougher and more rustic than they expected—and a single night of tragedy shatters the family when the native Maori stage an uprising, kidnapping Margaret and her children.

For months, Henry scours the surrounding wilderness, until all hope is lost and his wife and children are presumed dead. Grief-stricken, he books passage to California. There he marries Nancy Foreland, a young widow with a new baby, and it seems they’ve both found happiness in the midst of their mourning—until Henry’s first wife and children show up, alive and having finally escaped captivity.