Ell told the Rotorua Daily Post that the book was set in the days immediately before the eruption, the eruption itself and the aftermath.
“It’s a bit of a historical mystery as well, with a collection of people from various disparate places who’ve come together at the Rotomahana Hotel ready to visit the terraces.
“Many of them are there for nefarious purposes or lying about who they are, and so it’s kind of a mystery about who are these people and what are they up to, as well as this build-up to the eruption.”
The book also pays homage to the Pink and White Terraces, the “thriving tourism industry” built around them, and their importance to Tūhourangi.
“There’s three point-of-view characters, and one of them was a young Māori boy who is witnessing what’s going on around him in the village. Yes, the tribe are making a lot of money, but there’s also sickness and the European influence and impact.”
For the two Pākehā characters, “the eruption itself resolves some issues and raises some new ones”.
Ell said she wanted to be as accurate as possible in her portrayal of events without being “slavishly tied to precise details”.
“I wasn’t writing a history. I needed it to inform the story but not overwhelm it with research.”
Her research included reading books and firsthand accounts of visiting the terraces and being in Te Wairoa.
Members of the Tūhourangi iwi also read her manuscript.
The inspiration behind the novel
Born and raised in Auckland, Ell said she made a high school trip to Tarawera in 1986.
“We camped on the shores of the lake and climbed the mountain …
“I’ve always been fascinated by the story and the havoc that it wreaked and the idea of the mountain exploding.”
In 2007, she and her husband visited the travertine terraces at Pamukkale in Turkey on their honeymoon.
“We walked up and I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is what it must have been like to see the [Pink and White] Terraces and experience them’ … I really wanted to try and recreate that sense of what they were like.”
Auckland author Sarah Ell has written 13 books for children and adults.
In 2018, she began writing the book as part of her Master’s in Creative Writing.
It took another few years to complete the manuscript.
“It’s been a long-term obsession and finally has turned into a book.”
Her book launch is at the Buried Village on September 18 at 6pm.
Auckland author Sarah Ell is launching her book about the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption, A Sky Full of Fire, on September 18.
The 140th anniversary of the eruption was marked this year by the Te Arawa stage production Tērā te Auahi.
After a sellout season in June, Tērā te Auahi will return to the Sir Howard Morrison Centre in Rotorua for an extended summer season in January and February.
Ell said she was planning to see the production this summer.
The book launch is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending can RSVP to: jemmam@bateman.co.nz.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.