If we don’t have the past in mind, it is merely history. If we do, it is still part of the present. Esther’s grandparents first meet at a church dance in London in 1947. Stephen, a shy young Kiwi, has left to practise pharmacy on the other side of the world. Eva has grown up English, with no memory of the Jewish family who sent their little girl to safety. When the couple emigrate, the peace they seek in New Zealand cannot overcome the past they have left behind. Following the lives of Eva, her daughter Lisa and her granddaughter Esther, All This by Chance is a moving multigenerational family saga about the legacy of the Holocaust and the burden of secrets never shared, by one of New Zealand’s finest writers. Cover design by Keely O'Shannessy
Author
Vincent Gerard O’Sullivan, DCNZM is a New Zealand poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, critic and editor. He was the New Zealand Poet Laureate for the term 2013–2015. He attended St Joseph's Primary, Grey Lynn, and Sacred Heart College. He graduated from the University of Auckland and Oxford University; he lectured at Victoria University of Wellington (1963–66) and the University of Waikato (1968–78). He served as literary editor of the NZ Listener (1979–80). Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. Vincent^O'Sullivan
