Dear Oliver

When writer and historian Peter Wells found a cache of family letters amongst his elderly mother's effects, he realised that he had the means of retracing the history of a not-untypical family swept out to New Zealand during the great nineteenth-century human diaspora from Britain. His family experienced the war against Te Kooti, the Boer War, the Napier earthquake of 1931 and the Depression. They rose from servant status to the comforts of the middle class. There was army desertion, suicide, adultery, AIDS, secrets and lies. There was also success, prosperity and social status. In digging deep into their stories, examining letters from the past and writing a letter to the future, Peter Wells constructs a novel and striking way to view the history of Pakeha New Zealanders.

Cand scriitorul si istoricul Peter Wells a gasit un cache de scrisori de familie printre efectele mamei sale in varsta, si-a dat seama ca avea mijloacele de a relua istoria unei familii care nu sunt atipice si care a fost dusa in Noua Zeelanda in timpul marii diaspore umane din secolul al XIX-lea din Marea Britanie. . Familia sa a experimentat razboiul impotriva Te Kooti, razboiul boerilor, cutremurul Napier din 1931 si depresia.