Review: A bittersweet story of hope
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 13, 2011
All I Want is a cleanly-written short story that immerses the reader in the lives of Tom Barker and his wife from the time they meet until their marriage and beyond. When Tom finally purchases the piece of land in New Zealand that he knows will make good farming land, he builds a little cottage on it for the two of them.  There is a particularly pretty little hill on the property that they name the Pinnacle from which they can see far and they can also see the water from there.  Tom wants to run a dairy farm and both he and his wife want to start a family.This is a very nice story of a struggle to clear land that no one else thought could be done, and the hopes that this couple placed on all their hard work and the hopes that they have for the future. From their courtship, which began in Aunt Ella's milliner's shop to the long engagement during WWI to their marriage and beyond, it is a lovely story of two people whose love makes it through the good and the bad.