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The Colour
 
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The Colour (Paperback)

by Rose Tremain (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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The Colour + Music & Silence + Sacred Country
Price For All Three: £17.57

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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (3 Jul 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099425157
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099425151
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 9,669 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #3 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > T > Tremain, Rose

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Rose Tremain has long been one of the most vigorous and imaginative of novelists; her sweeping narratives (set against the most vividly realised of canvases) have made her books as dramatic and assured as anything being written today. The Colour represents a further burnishing of her considerable talents; it is a powerful drama of greed and aspiration set in the New Zealand Gold Rush of the mid-19th Century.

Tremain's protagonists are Harriet and Joseph Baxter, who (along with Joseph's mother) leave England for the promise of the new world that New Zealand represents. Needless to say, their relocation comes with many attendant (and nigh-insoluble) problems. But their struggle against the land continues apace until Joseph discovers gold in a nearby creek and ill-advisedly conceals the find from his mother and his wife. Gold fever takes an all-consuming grip upon him, and he leaves the family-owned farm to traverse the gold fields of the Southern Alps. There he will find a strange fate: one that affects those he has left behind as well as him.

As a study of human nature in extremis, this could well be Tremain’s most impressive book. Lacking the elegant stylishness of Restoration, The Colour grants us a fastidiously rendered picture of life lived at the sharp edge. And while her characters are confronted with terrifying decisions that few of us are ever likely to encounter, Tremain’s narrative gifts make it easy to identify with the decisions (both wise and catastrophic) that her characters take. The sense of period is forcefully conveyed, and while this is not as ingratiating a read as such earlier Tremain books as The Swimming Pool Season, her new level of ambition makes it perhaps the author’s most important book yet. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The Gloss
'Tremain is the finest of historical fiction writers'


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56% buy the item featured on this page:
The Colour 3.7 out of 5 stars (20)
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Customer Reviews

20 Reviews
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 (10)
3 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional writing, 13 Dec 2005
Perhaps I was reading a different book to the one described my most of the Amazon reviewers here. The one I read was a lyrical, majestic tale of human frailty set against an epic backdrop of cruel mountains and with meticulously researched attention to historical detail.
The threads of the book are woven skilfully and we, as readers, are kept guessing until the end, the principal characters - each real and vulnerable - taking us along with them as they struggle to come to terms with the cold consequences of their past choices. The writing is subtle and measured: I get the feeling that the author chooses each word with great care, and her selections are invariably right, as we both explore the psyche of people living on the edge and enjoy a rollicking good tale of gold and greed and hope.
So, don't be off by adjectives such as 'brutal' and 'depressing' - this book is compelling, vivid, and most satisfying - as a professional writer myself I can only admire greatly what Rose Tremain has achieved here.
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28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A strong story in a vivid historical landscape, 12 Oct 2004
By A Customer
There are some harsh reviewers out there. I found this book a highly compelling read, with well-drawn characters and strong, interlinking storylines which kept me interested right to the very end. No doubt those who have been to New Zealand's South Island (particularly in winter) will find this a more satisfying book than those who have not - I am sure it helps to have some sort of mental image of both the beauty and the harshness of the landscape in which the story is set.

It has its faults. It suffers from the apparent belief among contemporary authors that, unless a book contains a strange element of magic and mysticism, the reader will lose interest. This is not so - most books which try this obvious and tired trick fall down as a result. In this book, this unnecessary flummery arises in the relationship between the Maori woman, Pare, and the English boy, Edwin. On one level, this strand of the story is a touching (and ultimately tragic) tale of childhood imagination and clashing imperial and indiginous cultures, and it would have been better left at that. The introduction of Maori spiritualism seemed to me to be somewhat forced and shallow, and wholly unnecessary.

And why, oh why, do publishers of books set in strong geographical locations NEVER include a map? I dug out my own map of New Zealand, which greatly assisted in conceptualising the action, but a one-page map in the book itself would be so easy to include and would make such a difference.

But otherwise, a thoroughly good read - a little depressing, but not without its upbeat moments. The three main Blackstone characters are all a little bit useless in their varying degrees (and so more believable and engaging), and they all make mistakes, and the changing relationships between them seemed to me to be both convincing and sympathetically human. And the descriptions on nineteenth-century New Zealand life and landscape are truly excellent. Compared to the other books I have read by Ms Tremain, it is certainly streets ahead of the dreadful "The Way I Found Her", if not quite as rich and unusual as (although probably more compellingly readable than) "Music and Silence". I recommend it strongly.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars OUTSTANDING DESCRIPTIONS!, 10 Sep 2003
By Val De Beer "Val De Beer" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Colour (Hardcover)
I had not read any of Rose Tremain's books, and then this was lent to me by a friend who had visited New Zealand and loved it, and knowing that I am passionately interested in the country, but have not visited it, she lent me the book.
My reason for this introduction is that I did not know that there had been a gold rush in New Zealand at any time, so the entire experience - the author and the subject matter - was a new interest for me.
I was captivated by the story line and having taken a short while to become interested, I then read on and on, wanting to know what happened, and meeting many new characters, VERY skilfully sketched by the author so that one was alternately distressed by a death and thrilled by a new,fascinating person who came on to the scene.
I was interested in the manner in which the characters came to life,and at times the story had a 'roughness' which was surprising, but it was expected of the type of people who were involved in the gold diggings.
It seemed to convey the very arbitrariness of life, how from moment to moment, things change and one just has to accept the good and the bad that life throws at us with a philosophical attitude.
It doesn't all work out well in the end, but that wouldn't be real.
My only reservation was that there were some people who did not contribute to the overall plot and seemed to be thrown in for extra interest, like Pare, the Maori girl.
I don't think that Rose Tremain knew enough about the Maori way of life and the mysticism which is endogenous to the Maori people to make a full comment. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would certainly recommend anyone to read it - it's certainly a very gripping experience.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great story of gold mining in New Zealand
I really enjoyed this book, partly because I have been to some of the places mentioned (in New Zealand) and partly because it is written with very considerable empathy. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Rosalind

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent writing, great story, ambition not quite achieved
The Colour, a novel by Rose Tremain, tells an epic story against the backdrop of great events and a stunning landscape. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Philip Spires

4.0 out of 5 stars Pure Gold
Again Rose Tremain has impressed and entertained me with the power of her writing. I have now read three of her books "The Colour" The Road Home" and "Sacred Country" [see my... Read more
Published 13 days ago by Alexander Bryce

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book
This is a tremendously good book (no sense in wasting any time to let you know that much, is there?). Read more
Published 1 month ago by Didier

5.0 out of 5 stars The Colour - book
Arrived in good condition and quickly. Looking forward to reading it as have just discovered this author. Really enjoyed The Road Home.
Published 5 months ago by B. C. Dobson

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it...
If you have been to New Zealand or are thinking of going, this book gives a vivid fictional account of what it might have been like to arrive on its shores 150 years ago. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Amber

4.0 out of 5 stars a beautiful work..........

I read this book on holiday, so was able to relax and fully appreciate Tremains subtle yet dramatic writing. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Christopher Healy

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent read
I loved this engrossing historical novel - highly reccomended. If you can do please read 'Music and Silence' by the same author - absolutely outstanding.
Published 19 months ago by brixtonite

2.0 out of 5 stars Panning for gold and being disappointed.
I have previously read and loved "Restoration" by Rose Tremain. The main character was incredible; flawed and yet I cared so much what happened in his life. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2007 by H Folkes

4.0 out of 5 stars Descriptive writing
Set in the New Zealand Gold Rush of the mid-19th century Harriet and Joseph Baxter, along with Joseph's mother, leave England for the promise of the new world that New Zealand... Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2006 by kehs

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