Of Greenstone and Violins

In the shadows of London's Highgate Cemetery, Ngaroma stands before her great-great-grandfather's crypt, unknowingly about to unravel a tale that spans two centuries and two hemispheres. Victorian New Zealand sets the stage for an extraordinary story of two brothers bound by blood but divided by empire. Hōhepa, born to a British captain and a Māori mother, navigates a precarious path between two worlds during a time of mounting colonial tensions. Meanwhile, in England, his half-brother Colin, a gifted landscape painter, confronts the suffocating constraints of Victorian society as he struggles to live authentically in a world that denies his true nature and desires. Their unlikely bond challenges the rigid social boundaries of their era, proving that the heart knows no borders. Now, in 2010, Ngaroma's discovery in that London cemetery will bridge the generations, revealing how love, sacrifice, and forgiveness shaped her family's legacy across oceans and decades. Based on the author's own family history, this richly woven narrative continues the story begun in 'Finding Miriama', exploring how the choices of our ancestors echo through time.

©2025 Donna Goodacre (P)2026 Donna Goodacre