Celia Harlen has written a superb personal history of a life well lived.
Stained Glass Reflections is not only an intriguing family history but is also an excellent walk through from the early days of developing seaside areas in Wellington and later Kāpiti.
Ms Harlen deals with the impact of the depression and war years as well as the high and low moments of family life. It is a refreshingly forthright account which is very well written and makes for compelling reading.
One chapter starts; “Today, I aimed a loaded rifle at my brother and pulled the trigger.” Later she tells us, “The bullet whizzed past my brother’s head, and the force of the rifle being fired, knocked me flat on my back. I don’t remember much after that. Except all hell broke loose, with my father using words I had never heard before.”
Ms Harlen is also author of Raumati Reflections.
Stained Glass Reflections was chosen as one of the best biography books in New Zealand by Wellington Library.
A limited number of copies of Stained Glass Reflections are available by emailing; [email protected]
