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Read | <strong>Magazine</strong> 73<br />
PICCADILLY PICKS<br />
THE GREAT DIVIDE<br />
Christina Henríquez<br />
HarperCollins, $37<br />
It’s 1907, and 16-year-old<br />
Ada Bunting leaves poverty in<br />
Barbados caused by a failing<br />
sugar market and resulting<br />
unemployment. She’s only<br />
one of thousands who find<br />
their way to the Panama<br />
Canal, lured by the promise<br />
of contracted work, good pay<br />
and conditions, and gains a<br />
position as nurse for Marian, the wife of Dr John Oswald,<br />
who aims to eliminate malaria in the region.<br />
Omar and his father Francisco, a fisherman, live on the<br />
coast close to the new canal. Omar leaves his home to<br />
begin work at the canal. He soon becomes exposed to the<br />
brutality of daily targets for men digging this mighty canal<br />
with picks, shovels, explosives and awaiting railroad wagons.<br />
Francisco despairs of his return.<br />
These characters, and so many more, make for a<br />
rich account.<br />
Christina Henriquez, of Panamanian descent now living<br />
in Chicago, has in this novel returned to Panama, the earlier<br />
home of her childhood, her grandfather and her family, and<br />
researched the history of the canal and the people who<br />
created the 50-mile cut through mountains, swamp and jungle.<br />
– Neville Templeton<br />
STILL STANDING<br />
Anna Crighton<br />
Canterbury University Press, $40<br />
Dame Anna Crighton has<br />
lived an extraordinary life.<br />
Her memoir tells of a difficult<br />
childhood and adolescence.<br />
An enforced stay at the Mount<br />
Magdala convent when she<br />
was still a teenager did little<br />
to curb her spirit. She relates<br />
the history of unsuitable<br />
relationships, a restless lifestyle,<br />
and a short-lived abusive marriage.<br />
Surviving all this, she raised her son, attended university<br />
as a mature student, and obtained her PhD in the field of<br />
art and architecture. She was Registrar of Christchurch’s<br />
Robert McDougall art gallery for 20 years, a Christchurch<br />
city councillor, and held many distinguished roles. After<br />
the Christchurch earthquakes, Crighton fought for the<br />
preservation of the architecture and history of many of the<br />
city’s buildings.<br />
In 2020, in recognition of her tireless efforts for the city,<br />
she was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand<br />
Order of Merit for her services to heritage preservation.<br />
A fascinating read about a woman who has faced and<br />
overcome adversity, a well-known, well-loved champion of<br />
her passionate beliefs in the arts and architecture.<br />
– Helen Templeton<br />
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to josie@alliedpressmagazines.co.nz and you could win a $25 voucher to spend at Piccadilly Bookshop.<br />
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