Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Lifestyle

Novel set in historical Tauranga

Bay of Plenty Times
8 Sep, 2016 04:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Author Lindey Dawson takes readers back to Tauranga's early days with her book, Scarlet & Magenta. Photo/supplied

Author Lindey Dawson takes readers back to Tauranga's early days with her book, Scarlet & Magenta. Photo/supplied

Athenree House gave author Lindsey Dawson the title of her new historical novel, Scarlet and Magenta.

Not the house itself, but a book written about 19th century life there, My Simple Life in New Zealand.

"The lady of the house, Adela Stewart, happened to mention in her pages a handsome bachelor who was being talked about by all the girls," says Lindsey. "He had hair so red that they called him Mr Magenta.

"I thought it was so charming that he deserved to feature in my book too. And there he is, now in the title. Mrs Stewart did not name him and so he was a mystery guy, ripe for me to play with in my fiction."

Scarlet and Magenta has been spun off from a true story that happened in Tauranga's early days. "Lindsey had a factual starting point recorded in letters written by her great grandfather in the 1880s.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He sparked me off with the kernel of the story."

The true part of the tale involves our Mr Magenta, a young Tauranga banker who got into trouble by forming what they then called "an unfortunate attachment" to someone else's wife.

The book is largely set in Tauranga and Auckland. Trade up and down the coast was brisk. "Even in the 19th century the two towns were arguing over which had the best port." The Tauranga district was a popular through-point for tourists heading for the famous Pink and White Terraces, which meant a bone-shaking coach ride to the Hot Lakes - the old term for Rotorua.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The novel has many threads. Lindsey says she was fascinated by the thought of what needs might have driven the lovers together, and what might have happened to her cast of characters afterwards. "The book is as much as about the power of long-lasting friendship - especially between women - as it is about lust."

Lindsey Dawson is speaking about 19th century life and loving - and Scarlet & Magenta - at a wine-and-cheese fundraising evening at Athenree Homestead on September 13 at 7pm. To book, phone Val New - 07-863-4673 or 021-977-825.

the fine print
What: Book launch for Scarlet & Magenta
Where: Athenree Homestead
When: Tuesday, September 13

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Bay of Plenty Times

Robyn Malcolm, Toni Street, Kiri Nathan and Cassie Roma share defining moments

26 Jun 10:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga couple's 'amazing journey' to parenthood

20 Jun 05:00 PM
Lifestyle

What the inaugural Jetstar flight from Hamilton to Sydney was really like

16 Jun 08:16 PM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Robyn Malcolm, Toni Street, Kiri Nathan and Cassie Roma share defining moments

Robyn Malcolm, Toni Street, Kiri Nathan and Cassie Roma share defining moments

26 Jun 10:00 PM

They were keynote speakers at this year's Business Women’s Network Speaker Series.

Tauranga couple's 'amazing journey' to parenthood

Tauranga couple's 'amazing journey' to parenthood

20 Jun 05:00 PM
What the inaugural Jetstar flight from Hamilton to Sydney was really like

What the inaugural Jetstar flight from Hamilton to Sydney was really like

16 Jun 08:16 PM
'Quite fun': Hamish's quail egg business takes flight

'Quite fun': Hamish's quail egg business takes flight

16 Jun 12:09 AM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP