My review of Mr Allbones' Ferrets by Fiona Farrell has now appeared in Landfall Review Online:

http://landfallreviewonline.blogspot.com/2011/08/unsuspecting-huia.html ( )

Not usual part of any genre i would read, though suprisingly i loved it.
it was a refreshing change for me and i loved the storyline and the development of the characters.

I think the setting for me was most probably what shunned me at first but the vocabulary used transformed me to the time era.
Great read and reccomended to those who like character driven storylines. ( )

In this slender historical tale of romance and natural science, Walter Allbones, a low-born breeder of ferrets and rabbit poacher, encounters wealthy scientist Mr. Pitford and his granddaughter Eugenia one evening when returning from a profitable night’s poaching with a sack full of rabbit carcasses. Pitford and Eugenia were impressed by Allbones’ knowledge of natural science, however unlettered he might otherwise be—he has spent most of his life rambling the woods around his home and observing the wildlife, and much to Eugenia’s delight was able to direct the pair towards the den of a badger with young cubs.

Pitford, a naturalist of the old strain who fancied that mankind’s measured interference would necessarily be for the benefit of new ecosystems, hires Allbones to procure a large quantity of stoats, ferretss and weasels to be introduced into the ecosystem of New Zealand in order to control the rabbits that Europeans had already introduced with disastrous results. Throwing himself into the task, in no small part because of the beautiful eyes and smile of Eugenia, Allbones soon finds himself recruited to accompany the ferrets across the ocean in order to make certain as many of them as possible survive the trip. On board the ship, Allbones and Eugenia grow ever closer, until a disastrous secret threatens to drive them apart.

Slight, and relying too much on stock types rather than fully-fleshed out characters, “Mr. Allbones’ Ferrets” is neverthless an intriguing window on 19th century England and the arrogance of a breed of scientist who believed not in studying nature, but in changing it. ( )

Mr. Allbones' Ferrets is the story of what happens when a wealthy natural scientist, Pitford, and and a poor, but intelligent peasant, Allbones, join forces to help New Zealand conquer its rabbit problem. Enter Eugenia, Pitford's delicate, beautiful, but also curious and intelligent granddaughter. Then Fowler an enormous, evil bully gets in on the game.

Part natural history, part social commentary, part love story this slim novel manages to be many things at once. Its gruesome at times with graphic descriptions of ferrets hunting rabbits. Then it turns pastoral with young love in fields full of butterflies. Yet even with this breadth the story flows nicely and the characters always seem natural.

I really loved this book! The unique story line and beautifully descriptive writing style kept me hooked. I loved the characters and was immediately interested in where they would end up. Mr. Allbones' Ferrets is literary fiction at its best. ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2009/08/58-mr-allbones-ferretts-fiona-farrell.html ( )