Memoir recalls difficult childhood in Motueka

April 18th, 2013

Former Motueka resident Lynette Robinson, who spent some of her childhood years in Motueka, has written and published a memoir titled Where the Rainbow Fell Down.

The book is available in many New Zealand bookstores and getting into some public libraries, and has been well reviewed by media and on book websites.

Based on mid-century New Zealand, Lynette lived with her divorced mother Laurel and her brother Billy at 337 High Street Motueka. They were both first-day pupils at Saint Peter Chanel School when it opened in 1957. Her mother worked in the tobacco fields.

Lynette lived with four deadly fears inherited from her mother - God, the Devil, her father and the catholic Church, and she writes about this and the hardship her family endured during their years in Motueka.

She also describes the 1956 Springbok Tour and how she and her friends cavorted on their bikes all over the empty Motueka streets while people stayed indoors to listen to the test live on their radios.

Although this is a harrowing tale, it is also a tale of triumph over adversity - with humour and historic events neatly woven through the backdrop of the story.

The family left Motueka in 1959 when Laurel re-married and they shifted to Christchurch. Although Lynette continues to be haunted by her catholic conditioning, she eventually finds the happiness she always sought when she fell in love with, and married, a Catholic priest.

One typical reader comment on the book's Facebook page goes: "I have just finished reading Where the Rainbow Fell Down, a book that had my full attention from start to finish, a very hard book to put down once started.

"How someone can live through what Lynette did and be able to share it with her readers so articulately and honestly beggars belief, but what a fantastic work of art she has created.

"All credit to her and Brian for sharing their story with everyone. Even though I've finished the book it is still on my mind, not many books do that. Many congratulations Lynette you are one amazing lady."

For more information and to purchase the book online, go to www.wheretherainbowfelldown.co.nz.

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