KEY POINTS:
Not many writers can lay claim to the title of pioneer contributor to New Zealand literature, and more particularly New Zealand children's literature.
Isabel Maud Peacocke, better known in Britain than in her New Zealand home, is one who more than qualifies for this distinction.
The author of
16 adult and 25 children's novels, she was the first NZ author to write an animal story, produced the first children's book about the Hauraki Gulf and was the first fiction author to successfully reflect NZ societal attitudes and conditions in the early 20th Century in the family story genre.
In portraying a Maori child as the hero, as she did in The Adopted Family (1923), Isabel Maud was certainly breaking new ground. Likewise with Dicky, Knight-Errant, it was a rare writer who would depict 1914 Auckland.
To 9-year-old Dicky, being in Auckland was the next best thing to going to war, "to be in the seething heart of things", "to see khaki colour break out like an intermittent rash in the city streets".
Betty Gilderdale's wonderful essay positions Isabel Maud Peacocke firmly in the forefront of the development of children's literature in this country.
Joyce Fairgray's "Maud: Notes on a life" describes, through Isabel Maud's life with reference to her autobiographical When I Was Seven (1927), the seaside idyll that was Devonport in the late 1800s.
Fairgray offers snapshots of life in Devonport and Auckland, of social interactions and illustrious family connections.
Isabel Maud was the first teacher at Dilworth School, giving her ample opportunity to apply and refine her narrative skills. Her loyalty, love and respect for her family, home and community are undeniable as she evokes the sheer, abundant joy of living that was to be had in Devonport.
Betty Gilderdale describes Isabel Maud the author as "gifted, with an outstandingly vivid sense of place", particularly for Auckland. She values and affirms her influence on the period's literary world and portrays her as possibly a writer ahead of her time.
Elegantly designed and befitting the subject, Isabel Maud from Devonport is a little gem of personal and social history, a delightful read offering a succinct and thoughtful account of a lifestyle long gone but still remembered.
Familial, colourful, local histories such as this add a genuine insight and perspective to our learning and understanding of past communities of people whose heritage is still valued and with us today.* Available from Devonport Library, $15.
* Published by the Devonport Library Associates.
