Wild Latitudes
After the unusual death of their papa, Adele Overend and her younger brother Godwin are dispatched from comfortable Autumn Hall in Yorkshire to the uttermost ends of the earth…
To gold rush Dunedin in 1864.
Even worse for the grieving pair, they must travel on separate vessels.
Adele Overend soon finds herself mysteriously cast upon a seemingly deserted shore; her last memory is of dining with the captain and other distinguished guests aboard the Yorkshire Witch, the ship which took her to the ‘new Eden’.
With no recollection of how she came to be washed up upon the shore, Adele must find her own way.
Although, self-possessed, determined, practical and, of course, beautiful, Adele is sure that this will be no problem.
Godwin arrives on the rim of civilisation to find his sister vanished and nobody willing to employ what they consider to be an unusually pretty boy.
Their adventures lead them into a series of mishaps and self-reinventions as they begin to adapt to their new lives…
With an unlikely cast of characters, and a large dose of adventure Wild Latitudes is an alluring and emotive fusion of the Shakespearean and the Victorian, the gothic and the melodramatic.
Praise for Barbara Else
‘Skilful, involving and enjoyable’ – New Zealand Herald
‘…Dunedin is the Deadwood of the South Seas in (this) deep and brilliant…Pacific tale with a Dickensian cast.’ – New Zealand Listener
‘… a glorious portrayal of feminist-minded womanhood, familial intrigue, gender subversion and old-fashioned match-making set in 19th C Yorkshire and Otago.’ – Herald on Sunday
‘…a compelling leading lady whose defiance, fortitude and compassion made WL an absorbing read’ – Herald on Sunday
‘ a dextrous juggling act with numerous plots up in the air and a troupe of lively characters.’ – New Zealand Herald
‘…tongue-in-cheek, almost high-camp narrative … an extraordinarily easy read … some fantastically over-the-top writing and a tremendous sense of fun about itself.’ – The Dominion Post
‘irreverence transmuted into a vivid and entertaining story. The plot is as good as any historical thriller. … a gorgeous immersion into a rich and intriguing culture’ – The Press
he Odyssey Press is a literary imprint of Endeavour Press – the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. We publish new and classic literary fiction, literary biographies and works with literary tropes and themes.
