Mary D. Woodward: Landscape of my Heart: The Bethells and Their Neighbours

Reviewed by BOB HARVEY

The Bethells of Te Henga are the first family of the west, and this wonderful book, written with great skill and love, is a tribute to this dynasty of the Waitakere coastline.

In 1988, Mary Woodward wrote a short family history for a Bethell family reunion. Here she expands it, building her story from the arrival in New Zealand of Francis Bethell in 1858. He journeyed to the outer edge of the Auckland region, clearing the land, working the bush mills, cutting roads, coming to terms with the Maori presence there, and creating a family that today dominates this west coast beach.

This compelling family history draws us into their lives and we become like distant relatives, experiencing their tragedies and their closeness.

As the family grows through the generations they bring others into the fold. There are deaths and births aplenty and as the resourceful Bethells move from farming to tourism, they welcome new friends -- photographers, painters and writers -- who flow into this west coast paradise. They build an enclave of houses with wide verandas, surrounded by great trees, the walls inside covered with memorabilia of shipwrecks and paintings.

They sure are a resourceful lot, willing to take on any challenge -- and there have been a few, including almost a century of tension with bureaucrats, officialdom and councils. It's nice to know that over recent years a truce has been reached, and an acknowledgment of what has been achieved by the Bethell family is long overdue.

Auckland is not blessed by many stories of such passion and energy (they are usually reserved for South Island high-country stations), but this is every bit as romantic and intriguing as any of the great family sagas.

The coast is as much a player in this book as the Bethell family. It is a landscape and a backdrop, dramatic, wild and still untamed.

Beautifully crafted and designed, the book is drenched in atmosphere and enhanced by historical maps, paintings, sketches and photographs.

The west coast over recent years has had a number of writers taking a beach as their subject and there have been some good publications. This one is a pure gem.

* Self-published, $34.95

* Bob Harvey is the Mayor of Waitakere City, and the author of Untamed Coast: Auckland's Waitakere Ranges and West Coast Beaches