In the Land of the Long White Cloud

Hardworking London governess Helen Davenport longs for a family of her own but knows the prospect of finding a suitable husband grows dimmer each year. Then she spots an advertisement seeking wives for the churchgoing bachelors of colonial New Zealand and begins an affectionate correspondence with a gentleman farmer.Meanwhile, not far away in Wales, society life bores Gwyneira Silkham, beautiful, daring daughter of a wealthy sheep breeder. She finds an unexpected escape when her father loses a blackjack hand to a mysterious New Zealand baron ¿ and Gwyn¿s hand in marriage goes to the baron¿s son.The women cross paths on the ship to Christchurch ¿ Helen traveling steerage, Gwyn first class ¿ and form an unlikely friendship, one they¿ll rely on when the husbands awaiting them turn out very different than they¿d imagined.This nineteenth-century saga of two unforgettable young women ¿ navigating a new world and finding friendship, romance, and adventure at every turn ¿ is as lush and sweepi