Tamar by Deborah Challinor

Tamar, Deborah Challinor. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013. e-book, 426 pps.

     This book is actually the first of a family saga trilogy which traces [the fictional] life of a woman named Tamar. Deborah Challinor traces her progress from migration to young adulthood to career to really bad marriage to better marriage. The narrative begins with the influx of Europeans into New Zealand and references the Boer Wars in South Africa. Tamar is well-classified as historical fiction. The author's extensive knowledge of the late 1800s and the early 1900s is obvious.

sapphoq reviews says: The book Tamar is much more interesting than this particular book review. Deborah Challinor breathes life into her subject. The only thing that was disconcerting to me was the references to alcoholism and the notion that alcoholics could not drink at all safely. I'm just not sure how many people were subscribing to that particular idea back then. Other than that, I heartily recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction.