Scan barcode
janceetabacnic's review against another edition
3.0
The Premise: A wave of colonists from England migrate to New Zealand to build settlements, start new lives, and hopefully become wealthy. However, things aren’t always as they seem on the surface. Each of the stories in this collection is told from the viewpoint of a different colonist (plus one from the perspective of a Maori native!) as they try to discover what it takes to survive and thrive in this vastly differently landscape.
The Opening Line: Sarah woke to a fierce north wind.
What I Loved: This collection was extremely short – on my e-reader it was a scant 88 pages. This made it the perfect palate cleanser between two longer works. It was also perfect because each story was really short, enabling me to read a story, play a couple levels on a game, read a story, eat some dinner, etc. And each story was linked and interconnected to the other stories, which made my sense of discovery more palpable. I spent my time searching for connections and relationships between stories, characters, and events. So it was really perfect for that moment in my life when I needed something quick and surprising.
What I Didn’t Love: While the length was great, I sometimes felt unable to invest in the characters and their stories as much as I wanted to because I only got the quickest glimpse into their lives. I didn’t always know a character’s motives or backstory or secret hopes and dreams that a reader uses to determine how they feel about a character. So while the characters and stories were fairly dynamic for their length, I really just wanted more of each one.
Final Thoughts: I typically don’t read short stories. I usually want to lose myself in an adventure, feel the rush of romance, or be transported to an entirely new world – all things that I associate with longer novels. That being said, this was a fantastic collection of short stories chronically the settlement of New Zealand by the English. The themes of hope, friendship, and survival were all here, plus I loved reading about the things transported to New Zealand along with the settlers. And the final story by Shelly Davies was powerful. That last line really got me. Overall, I enjoyed this one.
The Opening Line: Sarah woke to a fierce north wind.
What I Loved: This collection was extremely short – on my e-reader it was a scant 88 pages. This made it the perfect palate cleanser between two longer works. It was also perfect because each story was really short, enabling me to read a story, play a couple levels on a game, read a story, eat some dinner, etc. And each story was linked and interconnected to the other stories, which made my sense of discovery more palpable. I spent my time searching for connections and relationships between stories, characters, and events. So it was really perfect for that moment in my life when I needed something quick and surprising.
What I Didn’t Love: While the length was great, I sometimes felt unable to invest in the characters and their stories as much as I wanted to because I only got the quickest glimpse into their lives. I didn’t always know a character’s motives or backstory or secret hopes and dreams that a reader uses to determine how they feel about a character. So while the characters and stories were fairly dynamic for their length, I really just wanted more of each one.
Final Thoughts: I typically don’t read short stories. I usually want to lose myself in an adventure, feel the rush of romance, or be transported to an entirely new world – all things that I associate with longer novels. That being said, this was a fantastic collection of short stories chronically the settlement of New Zealand by the English. The themes of hope, friendship, and survival were all here, plus I loved reading about the things transported to New Zealand along with the settlers. And the final story by Shelly Davies was powerful. That last line really got me. Overall, I enjoyed this one.
karenleagermain's review against another edition
4.0
About a month ago, I was contacted directly by author, Rebecca Burns for a review of her short story collection The Settling Earth. I tend to love short story collections and to be honest, I'm not sure if this book would have crossed my path had she not contacted me. Thank you to Burns and Odyssey Books for gifting me with a copy of The Settling Earth, in exchange for an honest review.
PLOT - The Settling Earth is a small collection of short stories set during the British colonization of New Zealand in the 1800's. Although all of the stories can exist independently, the characters and themes often resurface in more than one story. The final story in the collection is not by Burns, but by Shelly Davies, a member of the Maori tribe. Thematically, a majority of the stories deal with women's issues and their treatment as second class citizens during colonial times.
LIKE - My only other reference to colonial New Zealand is from one of my favorite movies, Jane Campion's The Piano. I kept flashing to the film as I read through this collection. I liked the multi-layered themes of the colonial women and the native population's oppression. The two paralleled, even in their differences. I liked the little twist in the final moment of the last story, which brings these two groups together. I enjoyed the overlap between the characters in the stories, so much so, that I wished that their stories had been expanded. Easily, there could be novels with some of the characters.
The story that stood out the most, was the woman taking in the babies. It's shocking, horrific and desperate. It was a strong overlap to, in a different story, show a woman who had left her baby at this house. I wish that this had been the central story and expanded, as I was left wanting more.
I enjoyed reading stories set, not only in a very different time period, but in a different culture. The characters lead lives that are so completely different from my own and that it fascinated me. Their desperation and dilemmas are just horrible to imagine.
DISLIKE - As with many collections, some stories are stronger than others. In particular, the first two stories failed to hook me. I can appreciate their important in the grand scheme of the collection, but it was a slow start. If you're reading this review and have not read The Settling Earth, I would urge you to not let this last comment put you off, because once it picked up steam, it grabbed me.
RECOMMEND - Yes. Burns and Davies are both beautiful storytellers and The Settling Earth is a worthy collection. I think this would appeal to people who enjoy historical fiction and women's literature.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
PLOT - The Settling Earth is a small collection of short stories set during the British colonization of New Zealand in the 1800's. Although all of the stories can exist independently, the characters and themes often resurface in more than one story. The final story in the collection is not by Burns, but by Shelly Davies, a member of the Maori tribe. Thematically, a majority of the stories deal with women's issues and their treatment as second class citizens during colonial times.
LIKE - My only other reference to colonial New Zealand is from one of my favorite movies, Jane Campion's The Piano. I kept flashing to the film as I read through this collection. I liked the multi-layered themes of the colonial women and the native population's oppression. The two paralleled, even in their differences. I liked the little twist in the final moment of the last story, which brings these two groups together. I enjoyed the overlap between the characters in the stories, so much so, that I wished that their stories had been expanded. Easily, there could be novels with some of the characters.
The story that stood out the most, was the woman taking in the babies. It's shocking, horrific and desperate. It was a strong overlap to, in a different story, show a woman who had left her baby at this house. I wish that this had been the central story and expanded, as I was left wanting more.
I enjoyed reading stories set, not only in a very different time period, but in a different culture. The characters lead lives that are so completely different from my own and that it fascinated me. Their desperation and dilemmas are just horrible to imagine.
DISLIKE - As with many collections, some stories are stronger than others. In particular, the first two stories failed to hook me. I can appreciate their important in the grand scheme of the collection, but it was a slow start. If you're reading this review and have not read The Settling Earth, I would urge you to not let this last comment put you off, because once it picked up steam, it grabbed me.
RECOMMEND - Yes. Burns and Davies are both beautiful storytellers and The Settling Earth is a worthy collection. I think this would appeal to people who enjoy historical fiction and women's literature.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
100pagesaday's review against another edition
4.0
In the 18th century, British emigrants began settling in colonial New Zealand. The new and harsh landscape along with the presence of the native Maori creates unease and conflict among the two groups. With ten interwoven short stories, the lives of several settlers and one Maori are examined.
I don't know a lot about New Zealand or its settlement by the British, so these stories were eye opening for me. The stories each provided a very intimate and in-depth look into the lives of a diversity of characters. Some of the stories were very emotional and taking on a darker tone and some had a dreamlike quality. I enjoyed looking into a variety of characters, a newly married couple, the local madam. one of the working girls, farmers and a Maori man. Some of these characters I created a very strong connection with, especially Dottie, Laura and Pip. I also liked that even though these were short stories, each story had a small connection to each of the others through a character or an event; which, in the end created a story within itself.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
I don't know a lot about New Zealand or its settlement by the British, so these stories were eye opening for me. The stories each provided a very intimate and in-depth look into the lives of a diversity of characters. Some of the stories were very emotional and taking on a darker tone and some had a dreamlike quality. I enjoyed looking into a variety of characters, a newly married couple, the local madam. one of the working girls, farmers and a Maori man. Some of these characters I created a very strong connection with, especially Dottie, Laura and Pip. I also liked that even though these were short stories, each story had a small connection to each of the others through a character or an event; which, in the end created a story within itself.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Red ribbons...
This short collection of ten interlinked stories tells of the experiences of the British women who came as settlers to Auckland in New Zealand. From farmer's wife to prostitute, baby-farmer to temperance campaigner, each story stands on its own. But there's a red ribbon running through them, binding these women to each other even when they are unaware of it, their lives as linked as the stories about them. Themes run from story to story, of loneliness and belonging, of motherhood, of the gradual change from immigrant to settler.
The book starts with a new immigrant, a girl married off to an older man she barely knew, and uprooted from her life in England to live on an isolated farm in this new land. Through her, we see the strangeness of this new landscape and feel the nostalgia of the early settlers for the land they still think of as home. The second story takes us to her husband, but even in the rare circumstance that one of the stories focuses on a man, it's still there primarily to cast light on the lives of the women. Burns portrays this as a very male-dominated society where women are still almost entirely subordinate. In fact the theme of prostitution runs strongly through the book, both overtly when we are taken inside the brothel, and more figuratively, when many of the women are defined by their value as sexual objects to men. The one weakness of the collection for me, in fact, is that all the men are portrayed very negatively – while Burns is not suggesting she is showing every aspect of this immigrant society, the slice she shows us is perhaps a little unbalanced.
Motherhood plays a major role in many of the stories, but not at all with a rosy glow around it. There is the prostitute who becomes pregnant and hopes against reason that the father will take responsibility. The woman who gives up her illegitimate child to a baby-farmer in order to marry another man. The baby-farmer, who takes in unwanted children for money, and then kills them, until one day a child steals through her defences. The childless widow, doing good works to keep her loneliness and longing at bay. The daughter, sexually brutalised by her mother's new husband. But through it all, there is a sense of the strength of these women, surviving despite all that life throws at them.
The tone, however, is not irredeemably hopeless – it feels as though these women are on the cusp of change, that a new generation, native to this land as their mothers weren't, may play a different role. Burns very subtly shows how attitudes change as people settle and communities form – the new immigrants filled with nostalgia for 'home', while the settlers are beginning to feel themselves to be New Zealanders and resenting newcomers making comparisons that are always to the detriment of the new country.
The final story is written by a Maori author, Shelly Davies, giving a different perspective. In truth, I'm not sure that this works well. It feels a little contrived – in fact, each time the Maoris were mentioned I couldn't help feeling that the book was straying too far into 'politically correct' territory. There is a clear suggestion that Maori men treat their women far more respectfully than white men do theirs, and while there may be truth in this (I don't know) the comparison feels a little too slick and overdrawn, and depends on acceptance that all white men behave as appallingly as the ones in these stories.
The quality of the writing is excellent, as is the depth of characterisation, especially given the limitations of length. The links between the stories are often loose but overall there is a kind of completion of a circle, taking us back almost to where we began. Individually I found most of the stories absorbing and intriguing, and some are intensely moving. But it's when taken as a whole that the book has its full effect. Certainly recommended, and I look forward to reading more of the author's work. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the author via NetGalley.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
This short collection of ten interlinked stories tells of the experiences of the British women who came as settlers to Auckland in New Zealand. From farmer's wife to prostitute, baby-farmer to temperance campaigner, each story stands on its own. But there's a red ribbon running through them, binding these women to each other even when they are unaware of it, their lives as linked as the stories about them. Themes run from story to story, of loneliness and belonging, of motherhood, of the gradual change from immigrant to settler.
The book starts with a new immigrant, a girl married off to an older man she barely knew, and uprooted from her life in England to live on an isolated farm in this new land. Through her, we see the strangeness of this new landscape and feel the nostalgia of the early settlers for the land they still think of as home. The second story takes us to her husband, but even in the rare circumstance that one of the stories focuses on a man, it's still there primarily to cast light on the lives of the women. Burns portrays this as a very male-dominated society where women are still almost entirely subordinate. In fact the theme of prostitution runs strongly through the book, both overtly when we are taken inside the brothel, and more figuratively, when many of the women are defined by their value as sexual objects to men. The one weakness of the collection for me, in fact, is that all the men are portrayed very negatively – while Burns is not suggesting she is showing every aspect of this immigrant society, the slice she shows us is perhaps a little unbalanced.
Motherhood plays a major role in many of the stories, but not at all with a rosy glow around it. There is the prostitute who becomes pregnant and hopes against reason that the father will take responsibility. The woman who gives up her illegitimate child to a baby-farmer in order to marry another man. The baby-farmer, who takes in unwanted children for money, and then kills them, until one day a child steals through her defences. The childless widow, doing good works to keep her loneliness and longing at bay. The daughter, sexually brutalised by her mother's new husband. But through it all, there is a sense of the strength of these women, surviving despite all that life throws at them.
The tone, however, is not irredeemably hopeless – it feels as though these women are on the cusp of change, that a new generation, native to this land as their mothers weren't, may play a different role. Burns very subtly shows how attitudes change as people settle and communities form – the new immigrants filled with nostalgia for 'home', while the settlers are beginning to feel themselves to be New Zealanders and resenting newcomers making comparisons that are always to the detriment of the new country.
The final story is written by a Maori author, Shelly Davies, giving a different perspective. In truth, I'm not sure that this works well. It feels a little contrived – in fact, each time the Maoris were mentioned I couldn't help feeling that the book was straying too far into 'politically correct' territory. There is a clear suggestion that Maori men treat their women far more respectfully than white men do theirs, and while there may be truth in this (I don't know) the comparison feels a little too slick and overdrawn, and depends on acceptance that all white men behave as appallingly as the ones in these stories.
The quality of the writing is excellent, as is the depth of characterisation, especially given the limitations of length. The links between the stories are often loose but overall there is a kind of completion of a circle, taking us back almost to where we began. Individually I found most of the stories absorbing and intriguing, and some are intensely moving. But it's when taken as a whole that the book has its full effect. Certainly recommended, and I look forward to reading more of the author's work. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the author via NetGalley.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
caroleheidi's review against another edition
5.0
The Settling Earth really was a fantastic read. All of the stories in the collection are interlinked in some way or another - each one focuses on a different character and their personal story of emigration and relocation. This really helped to keep me reading as I often find short story collections hard to read because there is never enough to get your teeth into and it's too stop-start-stop-start but with the subtle connections even though each story was only a few pages long, they flowed along together to create one big picture.
Not all of the stories were happy, in fact many were not and a couple had my heart in my mouth and tears in my eyes but there were high points and the last story, written by Shelly Davies, finished on a high that made me chuckle out loud.
The detail built around each character was impressive given how few pages were dedicated to each story, none of them felt flat or half-hearted and all of them felt very true-to-life. Their flaws, fears and joys were all very human and it was easy to relate to them or at least understand their feelings and actions.
Stunning writing built a fabulous picture of colonial New Zealand and highlighted its differences with England. It filled me with wonder at the fact that people made the journey so far without the comforts of modern travel - I am apprehensive about making such a long journey even now with instant communication and air conditioned aeroplanes etc.
A short but satisfying read for anyone who likes historical fiction, short stories or anything about New Zealand, The Settling Earth is well worth picking up.
My Rating: 5/5*
Not all of the stories were happy, in fact many were not and a couple had my heart in my mouth and tears in my eyes but there were high points and the last story, written by Shelly Davies, finished on a high that made me chuckle out loud.
The detail built around each character was impressive given how few pages were dedicated to each story, none of them felt flat or half-hearted and all of them felt very true-to-life. Their flaws, fears and joys were all very human and it was easy to relate to them or at least understand their feelings and actions.
Stunning writing built a fabulous picture of colonial New Zealand and highlighted its differences with England. It filled me with wonder at the fact that people made the journey so far without the comforts of modern travel - I am apprehensive about making such a long journey even now with instant communication and air conditioned aeroplanes etc.
A short but satisfying read for anyone who likes historical fiction, short stories or anything about New Zealand, The Settling Earth is well worth picking up.
My Rating: 5/5*
anjalikay's review against another edition
4.0
The Settling Earth is a collection of 10 intertwining short stories, set in the 1800s in colonial New Zealand, focusing on the British settlers and their lives in a new country. Sarah has been uprooted from England and is living on a sheep run on the Canterbury plains; her husband William, too often visits the brothel in Christchurch; Phoebe is trying to stay away from abusive Oliver, worried that he will find her or their child; Mrs. Gray takes women's unwanted babies in for them; Laura paints in secret; and Haimona doesn't understand the way of the white man.
Each story is only a few pages long, but each of them are connected in some way, which makes for a very interesting, and creative read. I haven't read too many books like this, so it was really great to have the opportunity to do so. I really liked the way they did all intertwine as they did, including the last short story, by guest writer Shelly Davies, which concluded the book in such a great way.
While the individual stories are very short, it was written in such a way that you really connected (or didn't, as it were in some cases) with the character, and felt for them. I think being able to do that in such a short space of pages is a real gift. I don't read a lot of short stories (I think I had to read too many in high school!), but this was a really refreshing read, and even though I read it one sitting, it would be a brilliant book to pick up and put down several times and not loose the story at all.
I think another thing that I really enjoyed about it was simply reading about my country back in the day. We all do New Zealand history at school, but it was really nice to read about the people from those times rather than gigantic historical prose about who-knows-what. Burns obviously researched a lot (or knew her history well), and I could picture every place perfectly in my mind, as there were places where the characters walked where I have walked, or go past even now in 2015.
If you're after a set of great short stories, then do read this book. It will make you think, it will make you smile, and the last sentence will make you grin like a maniac. Thank you, so much, to you, Rebecca Burns, for providing me with a copy of your brilliant book for an honest review.
Each story is only a few pages long, but each of them are connected in some way, which makes for a very interesting, and creative read. I haven't read too many books like this, so it was really great to have the opportunity to do so. I really liked the way they did all intertwine as they did, including the last short story, by guest writer Shelly Davies, which concluded the book in such a great way.
While the individual stories are very short, it was written in such a way that you really connected (or didn't, as it were in some cases) with the character, and felt for them. I think being able to do that in such a short space of pages is a real gift. I don't read a lot of short stories (I think I had to read too many in high school!), but this was a really refreshing read, and even though I read it one sitting, it would be a brilliant book to pick up and put down several times and not loose the story at all.
I think another thing that I really enjoyed about it was simply reading about my country back in the day. We all do New Zealand history at school, but it was really nice to read about the people from those times rather than gigantic historical prose about who-knows-what. Burns obviously researched a lot (or knew her history well), and I could picture every place perfectly in my mind, as there were places where the characters walked where I have walked, or go past even now in 2015.
If you're after a set of great short stories, then do read this book. It will make you think, it will make you smile, and the last sentence will make you grin like a maniac. Thank you, so much, to you, Rebecca Burns, for providing me with a copy of your brilliant book for an honest review.
anonuser1234's review against another edition
5.0
I was fascinated with the insightful and vivid portrayals of English women's settlement into New Zealand in the 1800s. The stories are just beautifully written and will be an emotional read for many women, especially mothers. I also really loved the ending. There was an element of surprise and comeuppance that made me laugh out loud and fist-pump when I got to the final sentence.
kimmar1's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely brilliant. Spare prose at its most powerful. 10 interconnected stories set in colonial New Zealand. Every character jumped off the page.
lenny9987's review against another edition
4.0
Every once in a while I like to read a collection of short stories to take a break from novels. There are some collections of short stories where the pieces do a fantastic job of working together as a cohesive unit while maintaining their ability to stand solidly at an individual level. The Settling Earth by Rebecca Burns is one such collection. Comprised of eight of Burns’ stories focused on British emigrants’ experiences in colonial New Zealand and one story by Shelly Davies providing a native’s perspective on the new comers, the collection takes care to look at an array of experiences that crosses the lines of both class and gender.
The hopes and dreams that brought individuals from their homes in Great Britain are tested as they face the realities of life in New Zealand. While some crossed for love or marriage, others sought to escape their pasts or otherwise difficult circumstances. What they all have in common is that none of them found the new land quite what they expected, whether to their benefit or detriment. But the emigrants brought more than just themselves, and as they try to transplant their own lives, they also wind up transplanting some of the structures of the society they left behind (the very same that some of them were actively fleeing).
For the complete review, please visit my blog:
http://wp.me/pUEx4-Eb
The hopes and dreams that brought individuals from their homes in Great Britain are tested as they face the realities of life in New Zealand. While some crossed for love or marriage, others sought to escape their pasts or otherwise difficult circumstances. What they all have in common is that none of them found the new land quite what they expected, whether to their benefit or detriment. But the emigrants brought more than just themselves, and as they try to transplant their own lives, they also wind up transplanting some of the structures of the society they left behind (the very same that some of them were actively fleeing).
For the complete review, please visit my blog:
http://wp.me/pUEx4-Eb
kimmar1's review
5.0
Absolutely brilliant. Spare prose at its most powerful. 10 interconnected stories set in colonial New Zealand. Every character jumped off the page.
More...