COMP CLOSED | Book Giveaway | Howling in the Wilderness

The Treaty of Waitangi is dramatised and seen from a different point of view in this lively historical novel from New Zealand author Diana Harris.

It is 1823, and Henry and Marianne Williams are on their way to New Zealand, full of optimism in their quest to bring the Gospel of Peace to the Māori people. But the Māori, in particular Hongi Hika, are preoccupied with obeying the laws of utu and are in no mood for peace-making.

And the white settlers are even less impressed with the missionaries’ presence…

After almost a decade of researching and writing, this lively historical novel is a compelling account of the people, events, and the forces driving them that surrounded the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Author Note:

‘In 2007, my biography Johnny Jones: A Colonial Saga was published, after 12 years of writing. This book was a description of events in the South Island in the first half of the 19th century, centred on the life of the whaler Johnny Jones.

I decided to explore the North Island in the same terms as Johnny Jones, i.e. people and events in the first half of the 19th century. I found that the missionaries Henry and Marianne Williams, and their part in the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, took centre stage. And 10 years later, here is the novel Howling in the Wilderness – fortunately just in time for the 200-year commemoration of the landing of the Williams family in Paihia!’

About the author:

Diana Harris grew up in Christchurch and studied languages and literature at the University of Canterbury before taking up a French Government Scholarship to study at the University of Grenoble, France. From there, she went to London, where she ran the office for a company operating hotel barge cruises on canals in France.

On her return home, she settled in Auckland, where she joined a publishing company and later worked as a freelance book editor for many years. However, after living overseas, she realised what a special place Aotearoa New Zealand is; she wanted to find out more about our history and the Māori culture, and she spent several years learning te reo Māori.

Her first book was The Kiwi Fact Book, followed by a children’s story, Guardian of the Bridge, about a taniwha who went to sleep a long time ago and woke up in today’s world; then came Litterbugs, a story in verse about recycling. At the same time, she embarked on the epic Johnny Jones: A Colonial Saga, which traces the life of her great-great-great grandfather and which also recreates the people and events of the first half of the 19th century as it unfolded in the South Island.

Now she has completed Howling in the Wilderness, which covers the first half of the 19th century in the North Island, this time concentrating on the lives of Henry and Marianne Williams. She believes the early 19th century was a crucial time when Māori and Pākehā people began to intermingle, and, in her opinion, it is the most fascinating part of our history.