However, the self-published Siamese twins, Campbell's Creek and Against Her Will, impressed me. (Siamese twins in that they are inseparable and should be read in sequence).
The story (both volumes) takes place in Scotland, Dunedin and the Central Otago goldfields circa the 1850-60s. The narrative resonated with this reader and others will, I'm sure, have the same experience, whether familiar with Otago history or not.
Both books are readable and compelling, albeit somewhat dark and biblical in places. The prose and the word pictures are excellent and the narrative seamlessly interweaves fact with fiction.
The story is a tragic romance that takes us from Scotland to New Zealand and back. It pulls no punches as it describes with absolute candour the Scottish clearances and the harsh realities of the man's world that was the Otago goldfields in the mid-19th century.
It's good to see a local author (Robinson lives in Queenstown) make such great use of Otago's historical material and do it so well.
The occasional spelling mistake detracts somewhat, however. The author, a dyslexic, admits to being bad at spelling. This is an area where self-published books often go astray and any editor may also not be a professional.
Self-publishing is not a vanity with Robinson, though. Eight years ago he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and given two years to live. He has been writing since his late 50s, he's now 72, and has a cache of unpublished material.
He has organised for most of his legacy of five novels to be published, posthumously if necessary.
- Ted Fox is a Dunedin online marketing consultant.
