About the Author

Jenny Pattrick is a best-selling author and is also known as a jeweller. Her jewellery has been selected for exhibitions of New Zealand work toured internationally. She has been President of the Crafts Council of New Zealand, chaired the Boards of Creative New Zealand, the New Zealand Drama School and the NZ School of Dance, and for the last four International Festivals in Wellington has chaired the Writers and Readers Festival Committee. She has had short stories and two dramatised series broadcast on National Radio.

Reviews

New Zealand-based author Jenny Pattrick is known in her home country for writing bestsellers. Her popular books are regularly described as 'rollicking yarns'. Catching the Current, indeed, adds another 'rollicking yarn' to her oeuvre. In her most recent novel, Jenny Pattrick successfully marries fact with fiction, seamlessly weaving historical characters and events together with fictional ones. Catching the Current is set in the 1800s, it takes the reader to the Faroe Islands, and tells the story of Denmark's early connection with New Zealand. While it may be a historical saga it is also a book about stories, and central to this novel is the tale of Conrad Rasmussan and an unusual woman named Anahuia. Pattrick's storytelling skills are evident in Catching the Current, a tale about traversing new lands, old songs, seafaring, war, love, and much more. This is a well-researched and deftly plotted novel with enough suspense to keep the reader flipping the pages. Real and fictional characters are skillfully rendered, while the pace and lyrical prose add to the historical tone of this novel. Catching the Current will appeal to lovers of well- written historical fiction and anyone with an interest in New Zealand's history. Deborah Crabtree is a Melbourne-based fiction writer and bookseller