New Zealand Pioneer William Deans' - fictionalising history

Louise Deans discusses writing a novel based on letters detailing the experiences of one of our very first pioneers, William Deans. William Dean's dispatches home to his father and brother in Scotland paint a vivid picture of what it was like setting foot for the first time and making a life in a new land. William Deans - The Passionate Pioneer tells of Dean's struggle to survive, and the historical events he was witness to, including Maori stepping in when the New Zealand Company failed to look after the first settlers on their arrival on the shores of Petone in1840. Eventually his and his brother John's enterprizing efforts in Canterbury resulted in establishing the historic Homebush homestead at Darfield. William's letters have been reconstructed as a work of fiction by Louise Deans, who is his great great great daughter-in-law.