New Zealand in 1866 and Will Stewart has left behind his past in Scotland to search for gold. Life is hard but the rewards could be great. One evening a huge storm drives a ship onto the rocks and Will rescues a young woman. To save her from a life of prostitution he marries her and builds a cabin by his claim. Will finds a cache of gold which he hides from his partners but, when he disappears after a fight, Rose is taken by another man. Will determines to reclaim his Rose even if it means confronting the sins of his youth.
This book is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I loved the beginning of the book based around the gold rush shanty towns and the life there but as the photography theme crept in the realism seemed to fade. By the time the action moved to Australia I was less armoured and the final chapters in Scotland I found underplayed. That's not to say that Maine isn't a good writer and certainly has a feel for a stunning start to a book.

My thanks to Sarah Maine, Hodder and Stoughton and Net Galley for the ARC of ALCHEMY AND ROSE. A wonderfully crafted, sweeping novel of life during the Gold Rush in New Zealand in the 1870s. How difficult life was for those who were swept away by promises of fortune amongst the grimy backdrop of a male dominated society, and for the women who followed them. The ending surprised me. I was so sure after all the effort Will went to he would have been more forceful in his determination to encourage Rose to stay with him.

🌊Fascinating tale of love, separation and hardship in 1800's New Zealand🌿

4-4.5🌟 stars
With lots of action and movement between a Scottish, New Zealand and Australian historical setting, I really got caught up in this tale of hardship and survival of a young Australian woman sent off in disgrace to the gold fields of nineteenth century New Zealand. Frontier living, limited prospects for work outside the hotels and bars serving rough and tumble gold miners, constant badgering from her new husband's mining partners: young Rose faces it all. Her destiny keeps her on the move and constantly on edge as her HEA proves more elusive with every new twist. I loved the geographical and the historical setting.

But, for me, the strongest draw was the human drama between Rose, her rescuer Will, their photographer friend Fraser and Will's mining partner Robbie. Will, my favorite of the group, is a heroic, self-sacrificing figure from the moment he is introduced. He's definitely not without faults but he is trying his best to overcome them while making a secure home and future for Rose.

Although the denouement of the book was brief and ended on a bit of a whimper, the journey there was exciting, informative and a really enjoyable read.

Thanks to Hodder Stoughton and NetGalley for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

An interesting historical read of the New Zealand gold rush in the 1800’s. The setting was described vividly and the hardships of living this life given in the exacting details lived by Rose.
Will and Rose had the potential to be great characters, and Rose’s maturing character was a joy to see as she fought her way through the challenges in front of her.

It was the book cover that first drew my attention to this novel by Sarah Maine. The foliage and flora that populate it and that image of a sailing ship in the middle of the top half echo a newly discovered lush distant land in a distant past. It’s evocative and enticing as if daring one to visit such a place. Intrigued, I read the description. It confirmed the impression I’ve formed in my mind and decided that I must read it.

"Alchemy and Rose" promises to be ‘a beautiful and sweeping historical novel that takes the reader from the west coast of New Zealand, to Scotland and Melbourne in the 1870s’. I will say that it has delivered on point in large part.

For Will Stewart digging and panning for gold nuggets in an almost spent goldfield is a hard slog with little to show for it. He had left his old life behind in Scotland after a petty crime to start anew and seek his fortune in New Zealand’s last gold rush in the 1870s.

His life dramatically takes a turn one day when, risking his own life, he saves Rose, one of the passengers of a ship that floundered off the coast of the gold-mining town, from drowning. Rose recovers and is about to be sucked into a life of prostitution but is dissuaded from it when Will proposes to marry her.

For a while it seems their life together is a bliss until Will decides to leave for a newly discovered goldfield to earn more money for them both, and Rose is left alone in the town to fend for herself. She befriends Fraser, a photographer whom Will also knows. She’s fascinated by how the photos are taken and developed in a dark room. She learns the tricks of the trade from Fraser and very soon is persuaded to pose for some revealing photos.

After a terrible misunderstanding and a fight over one such photo, Will is left for dead and Rose is snatched away by Robbie, Will’s gold digging partner, jealous of their marital union.

After recovery Will learns the bitter truth about Robbie and Rose. Not only have they disappeared but the gold nuggets he’s saved up as well. He is determined to rescue Rose and sets about looking for them.

With Fraser’s help, his search takes him across towns and cities in New Zealand and across oceans to Melbourne and Scotland. By some sheer (almost cruel) coincidences their paths almost cross but just as soon as these happen, the trail suddenly turns cold again. Feeling frustrated by the day, Will realises he has to come to terms with losing Rose forever. Resigned to this prospect, he is persuaded by Fraser to return to Scotland to help manage the latter’s farm.

Then another coincidence happens that will change the fates of Will, Rose and Robbie finally...

Author Sarah Maine spins a pretty good yarn set against the backdrop of New Zealand’s gold rush. For some such a setting often conjures up tales of how people had become insanely rich after a bout of gold digging. But life for most of the gold hunters then was hardly a bed of roses. Working conditions were often hostile and they had to put up with back breaking work for long hours and live in squalid conditions, as the novel grimly depicts. It really was quite an eye-opener for me.

No doubt the novel is of the historical fiction genre but it’s also a romance story of love lost and found. Well written, and with excellent character development, the plot is engaging with many twists and turns. It’s quite slow and draggy in the early part but thankfully it picks up speed when Will goes about his search for Rose.

As I read quickly the final few chapters, eager to find out how the story will end, the quickening pace of the action has a palpable effect on me. So I expect the story to end with a great flourish. Alas, it turns out to be not the case. It was quite disappointing for me. Hence, the 3-star rating for this review.

I received an advance review copy for free from the publisher and NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

4.5 stars

I would said it is well-written. I used to stumbled upon on this kind of story. Love and betrayal. This can be consider romantic genre but nonetheless it is not that so romantic. It's nice to learn on what happened in New Zealand of 19th century. Some historical background were provided.

Because of the plot situation just get worse and worst that made me read non-stop. I need to know more on what's going on after that. It also reminds me of soap opera on TV too which I like to watch. I really love Rose. She is definitely a strong woman and also deserved better. She needs to have a complete family ! But what to do, in 19th century was a tough time.

Somehow this story reminds me of one of romantic genre that I used to read, it's only lack of romance which is fine since it is not for romance genre. This book is literally wants to describe the life of white people in Australia and New Zealand which they were generally came from Europe and a little bit of spice, which was the drama.

This was a lovely book, simply written telling about a love story during the gold rush in New Zealand. I thought it was going to be more literary and would contain more historical aspect than focusing on the love story.
If you're looking for a tender love story, it's your getm. But, it didn't offer much more than that.
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Set against the last great gold rush in 19th C New Zealand, this is a tender and evocative love story of love and loss told in Maine’s beautiful, reflective prose. Not my favourite of her novels but still a lovely book.

Alchemy and Rose is a fine book, just not for me.

The writing style is fabulous and the world building is absolutely gorgeous.

I, however, couldn’t really find myself caring as deeply as I would have hoped for the main characters. Historical fiction is a big favourite of mine but unfortunately, this just isn’t the one.

If it were possible to side-eye a book, Alchemy and Rose would get a full dose of it. You. I was supposed to love you.

Here’s why.

I am a Scot living in Edinburgh with New Zealand duel nationality who spent a lot of time scooting around gold mines whilst on a trip there. Somewhere in my mum’s attic is a photo of me holding a GIANT nugget of gold and I even bought my own (you never know when you might strike lucky) gold pan. Layer on the fact it’s an historical fiction and this was meant to be MY BOOK.

Scene setting time:

✨ 1870s New Zealand coated in gold
✨ Shitty situations which just get worse and worse and w-o-r-s-e
✨ One super fascinating women trying to survive said shitty situation

Now, this is a story all about how Will’s life got flipped upside down. And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, and I’ll tell you all about how he found a woman in the ocean and became her rescuer on multiple occasions in a town called Hokitika. Will (our main lad) ditched his former life in Scotland for the gold-laden hills of New Zealand where he moved around depending on where the next batch was uncovered.

Rose (to put it bluntly) has had a shit life, growing up in time period known to be cruel to women and, as a result, gets shipped around. A LOT. In order to save Rose from a life of prostitution, Will swoops in and marries her the next day. And they say romance is dead? Everything goes sideways and before you know it, Rose is hopping from country to country being dragged along by her blackmailer.

Let’s start with the bits I’m a big fan. This is a wonderful setting. The entire thing sucked me in straight away and I genuinely struggled to put it down. It’s insanely easy to read and whilst I was 100% more interested in Rose’s story than Will’s, I never got bored of them.

Yet I have two major bits that I noped out on and just can’t get past.

There is no way in hell that two people could conveniently keep finding each other whilst moving from country to country. Yes, I know books can take liberties (blah, blah, blah), but this ain’t no fantasy book.
I just cannot get past the ending. I am massively aware that I can’t have everything my own way, but Rose DESERVED more. The build-up was so dramatic and I was 100% there for the bonfire. I was handed a match. Book betrayal.
Contrary to what I said above, this is a good book. I just can’t forgive it for the gut-punch.

Very well written; I was immediately absorbed into 1870s New Zealand at the beginning of the book, which sees Will Stewart prospecting during the gold rush of the 1860s, when a ship bringing new arrivals breaks on rocks and he finds himself rescuing a girl named Rose from the clutches of the sea. It’s not an easy town to be in for a woman however and soon Rose finds she needs rescuing again... Will’s kindness stands out in an environment which is unkind to women and a romance blossoms. However jealousies are evoked elsewhere which threatens to undo everything. Rose is snatched away to Melbourne and then Scotland and from then on we are following the two parallel journeys of Will and Rose separately, as they struggle to make their lives what they had once hoped and dreamed for. There are a lot of (cruel) coincidences in the book which, while unrealistic, make for a riveting story, and I found myself reading quickly particularly in the latter stages as I was keen to find out what happened to Rose. The book title also refers to photography, of which Rose develops an interest during the pioneering days of the profession: as with ‘To the Bright Edge of the World’ I found the information on the early days of photographs very interesting. I would also recommend this to fans of Outlander as it felt similar in some ways, minus the time but not the travel.

My thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher Hodder and Stoughton, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved the cover of this book and the blurb which made me want to read it. But it wasn't quite what I was expecting, more of a romance than a gripping historical novel. Don't get me wrong, its a fascinating setting and I quite enjoyed it but I was expecting a more literary offering from the cover so I was a bit disappointed.

So this is the first time I’ve read anything by this author. The plot summary and the cover is what got my interest.

I’ll be honest, it’s not my cup of tea, the ending was a bit disappointing for me. After all that back and forth, I didn’t feel justice was served... personally I don’t think I would purchase this for my friends or myself.

I couldn't put this book down, I needed to know what happened to Rose. Rose was a character that was so well written you could feel her emotions, and I really wanted her to find happiness. Will's journey to try and find Rose was an amazing tale.
This is one of those books that you need to find out what happened, but at the same time you don't want it to finish, I really enjoyed every page of this.
Great book once again by Sarah Maine.
Thank you netgalley.

I loved the first half of this. The story of New Zealand's gold rush is fascinating and the characters, with their strange triangle, were wonderful. I also loved the last section. The trouble for me was that between about 50% and 85%, the story (while well-told) was so frustrating. I think too much of the book was spent in the painful 'oh no, everything's gone wrong' stage and throughout that section there was very little light to lift the mood. I'd have cut that section down so the reader isn't left so low for so long.

One star is for books I did not finish. At 64% I realized I wasn't enjoying this book and not wondering at all where it would be going with Fraser and Will, nor Rose and her being manipulated by Robbie... not for me.

If you love historical fiction, I think you’ll love this. Set in 1866, Will Stewart has come to New Zealand to seek his fortune. There’s gold there and he teams up with a friend to do his bit to get rich. But life when you’ve no readily access to cash is bleak, and being far from home has its disadvantages. He saves a young woman, Rose, as her boat, carrying her and goodness knows how many, hits a rock, saving her life. They remain together and it seems almost as though they were destined to unite. Things are still not ideal but a little better. However, when circumstances mean Rose and Will are separated, one must decide to go in search of the other. This feels like an epic read, and it is beautifully written, evocative novel that I anticipate you reading and re-reading for years to come.

Alchemy & Rose is a truly inticing novel, with characters who seem to step right off the page. An absorbing historical fiction which kept me gripped.