Stories fascinating and thoroughly readable

Sark Trilogy  
by Chris Davies Curtis    
   So You Want to Live on Sark
   From a Feudal Isle to Aotearoa
   From Queen’s Nurse to Godzone 

In this set of three autobiographical memoirs the Author tells us in a very entertaining and very readable way her adventures over 50 plus years that took her from one side of the world to the other in search of adventure and a different way of life.

The first, So You Want to Live on Sark (134 pp), tells how the Author, as a young English Registered Nurse, and her husband move to and run a guest house on Sark, a tiny island in the English channel and near the coast of France.

It describes how the couple not only ran the guesthouse, but also acquired a collection of hens and goats to provide them with fresh eggs and milk, and a donkey for transport. Not only that, the Author also found time to be the island’s District Nurse, and had to hastily brush up on midwifery skills as the need arose.

I particularly liked the stories about the donkey – a necessity on the island as no cars were allowed and transport was either by horse or tractor. Pedro came to the island in very poor condition but as he regained his health he had some very endearing characteristics.

From the Feudal Isle to Aotearoa (170 pp), tells of the author, her husband and young son leaving Sark and emigrating to New Zealand for a period of several years. Together they toured the country and eventually settled in Auckland where the author worked as a District Nurse, mainly in the Far North.

The transition from Book 1 to Book 2 was very smooth. Not so much between the second and third.

From Queen’s Nurse to Godzone (150 pp) takes us back to London prior to her marriage, and describes her training working as a Queen’s Nurse, and eventual courtship. I found this transition not as smooth as it was between Book 1 and book 2 and felt the first 6 chapters fitted neatly into the beginning of So You Want to Live on Sark.

Chapter 7 brings the reader back to New Zealand in the 1970's and here we are given glimpses of being a District Nurse in the Far North.

This Reviewer, with a nursing history and belonging to the same era, found the stories fascinating and thoroughly readable. I look forward to reading more from the same Author.

Review by Merilyn Mary

So You Want to Live on Sark
   Publisher: Mackay Books, 2010. Illustrated by the author; ISBN 9780958291491. 
   Paperback available from Wheelers NZ or through the website www.chrisdaviescurtisbooks.com
   Second edition available from Amazon.
From a Feudal Isle to Aotearoa
   Publisher: Chris Curtis Books, 2011. Illustrated by the author. ISBN 9780473185890
   Paperback available from Wheelers NZ or through the website www.chrisdaviescurtisbooks.com  
   Second edition available from Amazon.
From Queen’s Nurse to Godzone
   Publisher: Chris Curtis Books, 2012. Illustrated by the author. ISBN 9780473200381. 
   Paperback available from Wheelers NZ or through the website www.chrisdaviescurtisbooks.com  
   Second edition available from Amazon.
Note: The 3 books have now been combined in a single volume, To Sark and Beyond. Available from Amazon.