Replacement Girl

Set in 1950s to 1970s New Zealand, this novel vividly brings the Jewish immigrant experience to life. Nazi persecution and oppression behind the Iron Curtain haunt the adults in this powerful novel as they struggle to adjust in a strange land. Their children, however, expand into the bright, open landscape of their adopted country. Eva and her group of four friends, all immigrant children and 'different', have to make their own adjustments and choices to survive and thrive in 1950s Wellington. They just want to leave their parents' past behind and live the carefree life of their schoolmates. With sensitivity and humour, Ann Beaglehole takes the reader inside the immigrant experience of mid-century New Zealand, exploring the tensions and love between generations and cultures. 'I found this book almost painfully gripping to read, both because of the vividness of the style, but also because it so closely paralleled my own life experience as an immigrant of the 1950s, and my search for identity and a sense of belonging.' - Sue Edmonds, Waikato Times