Daniel Peterson is a shipping company clerk, disenchanted with England’s politics and class system, he and his family make the decision to leave their comfortable life behind and immigrate. It’s 1866, and the Peterson’s have borrowed the money to buy a lush farm sight unseen, boarded the Matoaka and set out for their new life on Banks Peninsula, New Zealand.

Arriving in the colonies however, they find their land up a remote track, 3 hours walk from the settlement, and the house is filthy and rundown. The felling rights had been sold by the previous owner and the steep, rugged land that is now theirs is covered with dense scrub. Nothing could have been further from their expectations of gentle rolling hills and fertile farmland such as that found in England.

La Rochelle’s Road is the story of a harsh, unforgiving yet beautiful land and the colonists that battled to tame it. The everyday challenges are highlighted, and the Peterson’s would’ve been typical of the English settlers who had comfortable though certainly not wealthy lifestyles in England. In general the settlers were also not used to, or even aware of, the shear physical realities (for the women most especially) of life in New Zealand.

Moir’s writing style is simple and subtle, but conveys a strong sense of the wild landscape and changeable weather that shaped these early settlers. The fresh-off-the-boat Peterson's are nicely contrasted with the tough, more experienced settlers who live around them.

The structure is interesting and tells two very different stories. The main part of the text tells the Peterson’s story from Daniel’s daughter Hester’s point of view. Hester finds life in New Zealand difficult, she is filling a role she was not born to and is ill equipped to deal with the more blunt and forthright society of the settlers, especially when the prospect of marriage arises. Hester’s letters home to her friend Lucy are used to great effect, often subtly revealing the changing family dynamics and building resentments as a result of the hardship and failed dreams the Peterson’s struggle against.

The second part of the story is told when Hester stumbles on the pages of Etienne La Rochelle’s diary and the story of his explorations and illicit love affair. In the pages of La Rochelle’s diary Hester finds the escape from the daily drudgery that she needs. La Rochelle’s story provides a different, slightly more romanticised perspective of life in the New Zealand colonies.

Particularly telling in this story is the change that Daniel and his wife Letitia’s relationship undergoes. A once loving and close relationship crumbles as Letitia, accustomed to a life of ease and small luxuries, has her spirit broken by the daily grind and Daniel is hardened by the land, the men around him and his own disappointments.

La Rochelle’s Road is Moir’s debut novel, and is a great little read. It gives an authentic insight into the life of those who settled New Zealand. The plot contains plenty of subtle complexity while showcasing the grandeur of the Canterbury landscape. ( )