NEW ZEALAND PUBLIC RESPONDS TO ‘DAUGHTERS OF EREBUS’

It hasn’t taken long for Paul Holmes’ masterfully crafted book Daughters of Erebus to resonate with the New Zealand public.

 After just six days on sale the 170,000-word epic shot straight to number one on the New Zealand Bestsellers list. The book, which chronicles events surrounding the tragic crash of Air New Zealand Flight TE901 in Antarctica in 1979, as well as the highly controversial aftermath, has been a hit with critics, too.

New Zealand’s most influential book blogger Graham Beattie has labelled Daughters of Erebus ‘gripping, riveting and totally readable . . . I couldn’t put it down,’ said Beattie.

Hachette New Zealand publisher Kevin Chapman has been astounded by the public reaction: ‘The strength of feeling among the public has been evident in the rapid response to the book, but we have been really gratified by people recognising what a well-written work it is.’

Holmes, who worked on the book for more than 18 months, is delighted with how well it has been received: ‘It is such an important story; so much of what happened was so wrong. The book involved much painful research and a lot of pain was felt by the Collins girls [pilot Jim Collins’ wife and his four daughters] remembering it all. I’m so gratified that people are picking up the book.’

In the book, broadcaster Holmes calls on politicians to exonerate the pilots from any blame in the November 1979 Mt Erebus crash. To this end, Holmes and his publisher sent complimentary copies of the book to all 121 Members of Parliament. Already three Members, National’s Maurice Williamson, Labour’s Trevor Mallard and United Future’s Peter Dunne, have endorsed Holmes’ call to clear the pilots’ names.