When rural labourer George Munro—the author’s great-great
grandfather—departs the family croft in the Scottish Highlands in
1851 and begins an emigrant’s journey, he joins an outflow of Scots
who are seeking better lives in Britain’s colonies.
In this work of historical semi-fiction, the author puts himself in
the shoes of a young man who is quitting the demanding but familiar
patterns of life in the remote north of Scotland and taking on a
daunting world beyond: London’s mean streets, countless weeks of
confinement in a sailing ship, vast and perilous oceans, the risk of
falling victim to disease or skulduggery, and the uncertainty of
what awaits in the far-off land where he plans to settle.
While essentially a personal tale about an ancestor’s journey, it is
also a story about the socio-economic context in which George Munro,
and tens of thousands like him, are deciding to pull up roots and
head for the bottom of the world. Probably forever.
Mike Munro is from Taranaki, New Zealand, and has
worked as a cheesemaker, journalist, political spin doctor,
consultant and communications manager. He and his wife, Heather,
live in Wellington and have two adult children. This is Mike’s first
book.
• softcover
• 292 pages •
extensive bibliography
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