Union Belle - Deborah Challinor

In 1951 1000 Waikato Miners went on strike to support their brothers in the Seaman's Union engaged in the 1951 Waterfront Lockout. Times were tough and when the Government implemented harsh and heavy-handed emergency regulations, families were divided along political lines, and bitter accusations of sabotage and treachery began to tear small mining communities apart. Against this emotive backdrop, in the tiny mining village of Pukemiro, a story of love and treachery is also being played out in the personal lives of some of those intimately connected with the strike. Ellen McCabe, wife of the local union secretary and hero, Thomas McCabe, and a life-long Union woman, finds herself caught up the passion of the fight and a new found passion of her own - when a charismatic war veteran, Jack Vaughan comes to Pukemiro and befriends her husband. In a powerful tale of love and conflict Ellen is forced to examine her loyalties and make heart shattering choices, as the country and community around her is pulled apart. A full-blooded romance set in times of conflict, Union will do for the Waikato what Denniston Rose did for the West Coast - and much more.