Julie Kennedy: Katherine Mansfield in Picton

Cape Catley

$29.95

Although it seems a slightly spurious basis for a book, nevertheless this country's most famous writer did spend several childhood summers in Picton, where her paternal grandparents lived.

In writings and letters she made some lovely references to the town, as well as writing The Voyage, about the overnight trip from Wellington to Picton.

Kennedy recounts the facts of Mansfield's life which, especially as she grew sick with tuberculosis, included some poignant and nostalgic reminiscences of the country in which she grew up, such as this 1923 fragment which almost certainly refers to the Marlborough Sounds: "It was one of those days so clear, so still, so silent you almost feel the Earth itself has stopped in astonishment at its own beauty."

A nice little book which, with its many black and white photos, will please both Mansfield and Marlborough Sound aficionados.