Dot Scott is very well known in the Top of the South branch as she was Chair between 2011 and 2012, and continues to be involved with the Marlborough Writers group in Blenheim. ‘Web of Gold’, her first novel, is set in Charleston on the West Coast in the 1860s at the height of the gold rush.

In 1867 Charleston is a primitive place. Gold has just been found and hastily- erected tents and tiny cottages are scattered throughout the roughly felled bush as hopeful miners swarm there in search of a quick fortune. Wooden shop facades line the muddy streets as Doctor Arthur Jones, his wife Felicity and their two daughters arrive from England to find only a tent to live in; an open fire their only source of heat.

Patrick Kavanagh travels the treacherous beach route from Hokitika to Charleston, lured by the promise of gold.  An Orangeman, he runs up against fiery and resentful Fenians and is injured, resulting in a trip to the new doctor and a meeting with the doctor’s daughter, Amy.

There is drama in plenty as love, stolen gold, and fire, not to mention a full scale riot, rock the lives of the men and women of Charleston as they go about their daily business, in a life very different from any they’ve known before.

‘Web of Gold’ will be launched at the Detour Gallery, 67 Market Street, Blenheim on Saturday 12 November at 6 pm. Marlborough wine and nibbles will be provided, and everyone is welcome.