num_pages: 400
description: Newlyweds Joseph and Harriet Blackstone emigrate from England to New Zealand, along with Joseph's mother Lilian, in search of new beginnings and prosperity. But the harsh land near Christchurch where they settle threatens to destroy them almost before they begin. When Joseph finds gold in a creek bed, he hides the discovery from both his wife and mother, and becomes obsessed with the riches awaiting him deep in the earth. Abandoning his farm and family, he sets off alone for the new goldfields over the Southern Alps, a moral wilderness where many others, under the seductive dreams of the "colour," rush to their destinies and doom.
language: English
title: The Colour
titlecomplete: The Colour
genres: British Literature, Historical, Female Authors, Romance, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Fiction, 19th Century, Womens
ratings_count: 6029
places: New Zealand
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction Shortlist
publisher: Picador