Margaret Hall (4) (1925–)

REVIEW/NOTES on

RETURN FOR THE GOLD
By Margaret Hall

South Westland setting in 1880s.
A small group of families have been capturing/harvesting the gold on a beach. They have suffered a traumatic robbery and are also gradually clearing land inland to set up farms as the gold supply is dwindling.

The 15 [nearly 16 ] yr old main female character [Kate] narrates – goes with her father to Chch for the court case of the 2 thieves who are sentenced to fairly lengthy stretches in jail. One threatens that he will return for the gold and to get her. She has terrible nightmares and premonitions – makes for a gripping start to the book. She befriends a 21 yr old woman, Bess who has lost her parents and has to go to live with another family who exploit her. Kate’s parents later organize for Bess to join them.
We also learn of Kate’s developing relationship with her fiancé, and her routine with the younger children in the community who she home schools. There’s a nice link with local Maori and as is common then, Kate understands a certain amount of Te Reo.
Fairly arduous pioneer life is portrayed realistically, well researched and based on some real events, language is a little formal at times but generally quite gripping and I really enjoyed it. The tension is kept up throughout with the possibility then reality of the most vicious of the 2 thieves escaping jail and returning in disguise for the gold.
Happy ending though!
Suitable approx 12/13 yrs up, more girls than boys, and I felt it was designed in part to show how young teens in that period went pretty much straight from childhood to adulthood.… (altro)