Deborah Challinor’s best-selling Children of War trilogy has been re-released with new covers to appeal to a new generation of readers.
The dramatic family saga has all the ingredients that will appeal to those who love the sweeping drama novels that combine powerful characters with powerful history.
The first book in the trilogy tells the story of Tamar Deane, a 17-year-old orphan living in a small Cornish village who opts to emigrate to New Zealand in 1879.
Tamar is befriended by Myrna McTaggert, who has plans to establish the best brothel in the southern hemisphere and after scandals and dramas befall our young heroine, that friendship becomes invaluable.
The story takes us to the end of the century and paves the way for book No 2: White Feathers, where it is 1914 and Tamar’s children are the focus as World War 1 looms on the horizon.
The third book, Blue Smoke, mixes the story of Tamar’s family with the story of the 1931 Napier earthquake.
What you end up with is a book that is part history lesson and part family drama. I’m not normally a fan of theses historical drama novels but found these three an easy read and quite compelling.