SYNOPSIS (Story Development)

The Book of Secrets (Vintage)
I lived in Waipu for two immensely happy years when I was a teenager (see publications below). Waipu was the scene of a remarkable settlement of Nova Scotians who came to New Zealand on six ships in the 1850s. I lived amongst the settlers' descendants. My parents were farmers and we were supported and made welcome by our neighbours.

When I left, their stories haunted me for years. Eventually, I decided to write a novel based on the migrations. In all, it took me fourteen years of on again off again research. I travelled the route the settlers had taken, from the Highlands, to Nova Scotia, where I lived with a coalmining family on Cape Breton Island, to Australia and back home to New Zealand.