Mrs Jewell and the wreck of the General Grant is an imaginary story of what might have happened to the historic fifteen souls who survived the wreck and eighteen months castaway on the sub-Antartic Auckland Islands. The ship —missing for 156 years in a cave on one of the wildest stretches of coastline in the world—is still waiting to be found, though this year alone two wreck hunting expeditions have searched the cliffs. Writing historical fiction doesn’t get more thrilling than this.
Mrs Jewell and the wreck of the General Grant has been shortlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2023, and shortlisted for NZ Booklovers Awards 2023.
MEDIA (earliest to latest)
Radio review by Lou Ward of Wardini Books (from 12:55)
New Zealand Listener Vol 281, No.4252 June 25-July 1 2022 p.28-31
Newsroom June 21,2022. Is this the best historical novel of the year?
Book review by Catherine Clarke
Interview with Tanya Ashcroft on Radio Active, Wellington
Interview with Kathryn Ryan on RNZ nine-to-noon
Book review (lovely one) by Jessie Neilson on Kete books.
ReadingRoom, number three with a bullet
5 Quick Questions in the Herald Mag
Book Review, Don Hollander, bookseller
Book Review in Hooked on Books, by Savarna Yang, 14.
Book Review, in Bay Buzz No65 July/Aug 2022
Radio review by Catherine Robertson with Jessie Mulligan, RNZ (from 6:40)
Readingroom, bookcase star of the week at number 6
Book Review, in NZATE (Association for teaching of English)
Interview with Lou Ward on Radio Hawke’s Bay
Book Review by Chris Reed in NZ Booklovers
Book Review, by the fabulous Catherine Robertson in Landfall (after Paddy Richardson – good company or what?)
Book Review, by Anna Knox in Heritage New Zealand magazine
Book Review, by blogger Judith Mckinnon
Book Review, by Alyson Baker of Nelson Libraries
Book Review, by Caroline Harker, from the fab Next Chapter in Wanaka.
Interview, in NZ Booklovers.
Published by the Cuba Press, June 2022 with the support of Creative New Zealand. Available from all good bookshops, but especially Unity Books in Wellington, Shrodingers in Petone and Wardini Books in Hawkes Bay. Available on Kindle.
For a brilliant background to the real story on which this novel is based, here is a link to Shipwreck Tales with John McCrystal, the General Grant session. And if that rocks your boat, you’ll need Worse things happen at sea.
Cristina Sanders' blog 
