Home > Categories > Books > Non-Fiction > Lizzie, love review
Lizzie is twelve years old: sparky, determined and recently crippled by an illness.
The year is 1833 and her father, James Kemp, is a missionary to Maori at Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands.
When Lizzie's baby brother dies and her mother becomes ill, nothing Lizzie does seems able to make things better. As the eldest daughter of seven children, much is expected of her.
Life isn't easy, but does God care? Is there any point in praying, as her father has taught her?
Based on a true story, Lizzie, love is a moving and vibrant cameo of life in early colonial New Zealand. Brenda Delamain brings Lizzie Kemp to us: thoughtful, brave and fully alive.
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Lizzie, Love is a historical novel set several years before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. The story follows the life of a young girl (Lizzie) who is one of the first generation of truly bi-lingual New Zealanders. Lizzie's father is a missionary for the area Keri Keri and so spends much of his time away from the family. Lizzie's mother ends up suffering from bad health and so Lizzie has to take over her mother's role to keep the family functioning. In amongst all this, Lizzie is struggling with all the thoughts and feelings that come with growing up. In her world, she is neither an adult nor a child.
The story is based in fact and the author, Brenda Delmain, brings the characters to life in ways that pre-teen girls can identify with, even though these events occurred 170 years ago. The story is set at a docile pace compared with books in the current day. Readers who prefer a more steady read will enjoy this.
The book offers an insight into our past and would be good for those with an interest in history, or studying the colonial days for school.
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