Blue Smoke

On 3 February 1931, Napier was devastated by a powerful earthquake - and one of those seriously injured is Tamar Murdoch, beloved matriarch of Kenmore. As she struggles to overcome her injuries, Tamar is also beset by the ongoing effects of the Great Depression. Relief work for the unemployed keeps her busy - but when her grandson threatens to leave for Spain to join the International Brigade, she feels the familiar dread she knew when her sons were torn from her in the First World War. While she has faced down scandal, murderous violence and tragic illness in her past, the future of her family is threatened once again by war and heartbreak, as Hitler's armies start to march. Tamar watches helplessly as her children and grandchildren are sucked once more into the ruthless machinery of war. In the conclusion of the Tamar trilogy, the story of the feisty Cornish seamstress who became a brothelkeeper and wealthy landowner is brought to a stirring and memorable conclusion. Deborah Challinor is a freelance writer and historian living in the Bay of Plenty. Blue Smoke is her third novel, following the bestselling Tamar and White Feathers, and she has written several nonfiction titles, including Who'll Stop the Rain? and Grey Ghosts.