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Shadow of the Boyd
(Harper Collins, 2010) |
Long ago I'd heard a friend tell the tale of a young cabin boy who had survived a massacre in New Zealand in the early 1800s, along with a woman and two small girls.
Shadow of the Boyd is the retelling of this true story, the terrifying experience of fifteen-year-old Thomas Davidson. Davidson's story is told partly as a straight narrative and partly from diary entries which jolt his memories further, revealing details of his time on the brigantine Boyd.
Menefy took much of her information from old shipping documents but had to rely on imagination to fill in most of the details. The result is an engaging read but a brutal one. Menefy did well to describe the massacre simply but without too much gore. The way the survivors lived with the Maori people after the massacre was fascinating.
This is a good read for those interested in New Zealand history.
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