Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

In the Land of the Long White Cloud is an extremely long-winded novel about two young women who leave England for new lives in New Zealand in the 1800s. Covering several decades, the book is 75% historical fiction and 25% romance novel, and while it's not completely without merit, it is certainly not a stellar example of either genre. The attention to detail regarding sheep ranching, the occupation of many of the main characters, helps the reader to imagine life in colonial New Zealand. Unfortunately, the effect is ruined by dialogue (of which there is much) that is flat and jarringly anachronistic. If one reads just the characters' spoken words, it would be utterly impossible to guess that the book is set over 100 years ago, rather than the current day. The characters are reasonably well-developed, but unfortunately the author uses only a limited number of molds so they are mostly interchangeable. The majority of the characters are either strong-willed, plucky, but unlucky women or mean-spirited, misogynistic men, with a few nice but largely unattainable men for the women to fall in love with. There are a couple of notable exceptions, but the most interesting of them is killed halfway through the story. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you have a particular interest in New Zealand during the 1800s. It's too long to be a quick and easy read, and not good enough to warrant the time it takes to finish it.