Author(s): Deborah Challinor

NZ Fiction

In a continuation of the family saga begun in the highly acclaimed Tamar,White Feathers follows the lives of Tamar and Andrew Murdoch, in the years leading up to and immediately after World War One.  Tamar's children become the focus of the continuing story, in particular her illegitimate eldest son, Joseph, the Boer War veteran who sits awkwardly between two cultures in a country that is just beginning to forge its own identity. Since the end of the Boer War, life has been kind to Tamar and her children, but gathering storm clouds over Europe cast long shadows over their peaceful lives. When war is finally declared, Tamar sees its terrible effect on Joseph and his growing attraction for his childhood friend Erin, and divided loyalties within the Murdoch clan arise as two brothers enlist and one registers as a conscientious objector. Tamar's love for her children is sorely tested when her daughter Keely is drawn into the far away conflict, and her active duty as a nursing sister takes her a long way from her sheltered upbringing, with devastating consequences Deborah Challinor has a Ph.D in history from the University of Waikato, and was a columnist for the Waikato Times. She now works as a freelance writer. Her first novel was Tamar, and she has written several nonfiction titles, including Who'll Stop the RainG and Grey Ghosts.