Ell told the Rotorua Daily Post that the book was set in the days immediately before the eruption, the eruption itself and the aftermath.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a historical mystery as well, with a collection of people from various disparate places who\u2019ve come together at the Rotomahana Hotel ready to visit the terraces.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of them are there for nefarious purposes or lying about who they are, and so it\u2019s kind of a mystery about who are these people and what are they up to, as well as this build-up to the eruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
The book also pays homage to the Pink and White Terraces, the \u201cthriving tourism industry\u201d built around them, and their importance to T\u016bhourangi.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s three point-of-view characters, and one of them was a young M\u0101ori boy who is witnessing what\u2019s going on around him in the village. Yes, the tribe are making a lot of money, but there\u2019s also sickness and the European influence and impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the two P\u0101keh\u0101 characters, \u201cthe eruption itself resolves some issues and raises some new ones\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ell said she wanted to be as accurate as possible in her portrayal of events without being \u201cslavishly tied to precise details\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t writing a history. I needed it to inform the story but not overwhelm it with research.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her research included reading books and firsthand accounts of visiting the terraces and being in Te Wairoa.<\/p>\n
Members of the T\u016bhourangi iwi also read her manuscript.<\/p>\n
The inspiration behind the novel <\/p>\n
Born and raised in Auckland, Ell said she made a high school trip to Tarawera in 1986.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe camped on the shores of the lake and climbed the mountain … <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been fascinated by the story and the havoc that it wreaked and the idea of the mountain exploding.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2007, she and her husband visited the travertine terraces at Pamukkale in Turkey on their honeymoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe walked up and I remember thinking, \u2018Wow, this is what it must have been like to see the [Pink and White] Terraces and experience them\u2019 … I really wanted to try and recreate that sense of what they were like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auckland author Sarah Ell has written 13 books for children and adults.<\/p>\n
In 2018, she began writing the book as part of her Master\u2019s in Creative Writing.<\/p>\n
It took another few years to complete the manuscript.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a long-term obsession and finally has turned into a book.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her book launch is at the Buried Village on September 18 at 6pm.<\/p>\n
Auckland author Sarah Ell is launching her book about the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption, A Sky Full of Fire, on September 18.<\/p>\n
The 140th anniversary of the eruption was marked this year by the Te Arawa stage production T\u0113r\u0101 te Auahi<\/a>.<\/p>\n After a sellout season in June, T\u0113r\u0101 te Auahi will return to the Sir Howard Morrison Centre in Rotorua for an extended summer season <\/a>in January and February.<\/p>\n Ell said she was planning to see the production this summer.<\/p>\n The book launch is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending can RSVP to: jemmam@bateman.co.nz<\/a>.<\/p>\n