Case 7
- Central Otago, The Later Novels
Essie Summers. High-Country Governess. London: Mills & Boon, 1987.
High Country Governess represented the author’s final novel for Mills and Boon. Its heroine, a glamorous department store employee, has much more to her than good looks. She proves her point in the craggy terrain near Lake Wakatipu.
Essie Summers. The South Horizon Man. First large print edition. Leicester: Ulverscroft, 1995.
The first title in Summers' final sequence of novels is South Horizon Man (Severn House). An English genealogist connects with unknown relatives and environments when she visits Ludwigtown and the Lake of the Kingfisher, and then arrives at South Horizon sheep station.
Essie Summers. Caleb's Kingdom. Sutton, Surrey: Severn House, 1996.
While Caleb's Kingdom also takes place within New Zealand's Southern Lakes area, the stock includes deer as well as sheep, reflecting changing times for farming. Familiar characters return from Summers' earlier novels set around Glenorchy, underlining the author's interest in multi-generational characters and continuity of values.