Veteran author’s new book set in early Auckland

Acclaimed author Tessa Duder’s first novel in 20 years will be launched close to home next weekend.

The returned Devonport resident will speak at the Devonport Library about The Sparrow, which, through the eyes of its main character, observes the founding of Auckland as the nation’s capital in 1840.

A troubled teen who served time as a convict in Tasmania, he happens to arrive in town on the same ship as officials involved at the time.

Duder hopes the book will shine a light on a pivotal chapter of the nation’s past and be a useful adjunct to teaching the revamped school history curriculum. “The story is so little known,” she says.

Although the book fits into the young-adult category she has long written for, Duder believes it will appeal to people who like reading authors such as Jenny Patrick, or historical novels generally.

Her jumping-off point for the story came from research she did for a biography she wrote in 2015 of Sarah Mathew, wife of colonial administrator Felton Mathew, whose adventurous life intrigued her.

Mathew’s accounts of early Auckland, along with those of John Logan Campbell, give an insight into what life was like in what was a pretty rough town in its early days.

“Sarah Mathew is the woman who left us with a wonderful description of Auckland’s first day,” she says.

It fell on 18 September, but with Auckland Anniversary Day celebrations having long been shifted to January to coincide with summer and a yachting regatta, it has faded from view.

“We could do much more to acknowledge it,” says Duder.

That includes the role of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei in assisting settlers and how land sales and property prices have always been an issue in Auckland.

“Officials came in to buy land and run up a flag and have a party,” she says.

While the sales provided money for Governor Hobson to spend on roads and buildings, she says speculators who travelled from Australia to buy and sell land pushed up auction prices.”People who came with modest amounts of money were generally shut out.”

A sequel to The Sparrow will feature Devonport as one of Auckland’s early settlements. “I’m working on that and hoping it will be published, but it’s never guaranteed,” she says.

Duder, now 82, has written more than 40 books over a similar number of years, since turning to writing after raising a family and an early career in journalism.

Best known for her Alex series about a young swimmer, Duder was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours

Her debut novel, Night Race to Kawau (1982), drew on her love of sailing, as did her most recent non-fiction work about Captain Cook’s charting of New Zealand.

“I enjoy going to the Devonport Yacht Club, although I don’t sail much these days,” she tells the Flagstaff.

After living here in the early 1990s, returning to Devonport two years ago from previous homes in Castor Bay and Milford had the bonus of being near a daughter who lives here. “I just felt I needed to downsize and it was a nice place to come.”

The Duder name, which comes from her former husband John, is entrenched in the area’s own colonial history and lent to a local beach and street. John’s great-grandfather, Thomas Duder, was an early signalman on Mt Victoria, serving from 1842 to 1870.

Duder keeps busy with her writing, involvement in the Storylines children’s literature charity and as vice-patron of the Spirit of Adventure Trust. She enjoys proximity to the village, and says: “It’s got a wonderful identity of its own.”

Duder belongs to a local book club and says being an author does not give her any bragging rights, although she sometimes offers her own take in discussions. “I try to fit in with the group.”

• Tessa Duder will read a short extract from The Sparrow and talk about the novel at 2pm on Saturday 27 May, at Devonport Library.