Behind this book…

 The genesis of this book, the first in the Kitty series, comes from me wondering what people at Waitangi might have been thinking on the day that the Treaty was signed. Was it a day heavy with political import and gravitas, or was it more like New Zealand’s first Big Day Out? I also wanted to look at friendships between Maori and Pakeha women at mission stations. And relationships between Pakeha men and Maori women, for that matter.

Reviews…

   ‘Deborah Challinor’s heroines are always easy to cheer for. As well as being a great book, it’s no great stretch to envision Kitty being developed as a great local drama series too.’
                                                                                          NZ Women’s Weekly, April 2006

   ‘This book, full of mystery, intrigue, traditional values, illicit sexual liaison, betrayal and death, is hard to put down. From start to finish, the author gives us a lively plot entwined with colonial history, and an insight into Maori and European traditions, values and expectations prevalent of that era.’
                                                                                              Heritage Matters, Winter 2006

   ‘Kitty is Deborah Challinor’s fifth novel, and in it we experience historical romance writing at its best…Challinor is extraordinarily talented. She knows her New Zealand history well but she never puts it at the centre of her narrative. Her characters do not come across as mere ciphers but as real living people…I enjoyed this book, both for the expertise of the writer and the thrill of good fiction set in earlier days in my homeland.’
                                                                                          New Zealand Books, Spring 2007