Navigation
Cowley, JoyNavigation is Joy Cowley's story. From her childhood in 1940s Foxton, to family life, marriages and international fame as a writer, Joy takes us on a candidly told and often surprising journey. She touches down constantly at her retreat centre in the Marlborough Sounds, where she writes passionately about the seasons and the natural world. Warm, sensitive and peppered with Joy's irrepressible love of life, Navigation is a relaxed and beautifully written memoir. [Taken from the book cover.] NZ Interest
Comments from Groups
An easy book to read; it created much discussion. It encompassed many parts of her life, personal, creative etc and the part that surprised us all most was her spiritual, religious writings. There were several teachers in the group who all related well to much of her writing about her teaching of reading. The non teachers didn't find this as interesting. Overall, an enjoyable read. Akaroa 005 Thoroughly enjoyed it, easy read. Joy Cowley expresses herself well. An adventurous woman - obviously her life experiences influence her writing. One member loved the way Joy is so visual. Joy turned everything into a positive experience and was a woman who could see possibilities. The value of oral history was emphasised as a basis of storytelling. Carterton 001 Everyone was interested that it was a memoir but were also interested in getting a wider perspective of some of her life events. A lot of interest persisted from her hardship, how the community was supportive of everyone and this provided a lot of material for her stories. Everyone was impressed by the developing of school journals with New Zealand relevant stories. Auckland 166
Pages
202
202
Year
2010
2010
Reviews
18-07-2024
Interesting insights into the early life of a New Zealand literary icon.
29-04-2024
What a beautiful book, what a beautiful woman. We all want to visit Fish Bay. Some readers found the passage about Joy's attempt to suicide rather unsettling, but agreed that it was an integral part of the book - HER story.
23-04-2024
Everyone enjoyed this book. It's easy to read, has interesting insights into NZ's social history and the development of NZ children's literature. A former teacher found her style a bit preachy at times, ie. on how children should be taught, but this led to a discussion on the changes in children's books and education styles.
19-07-2023
This book was a revelation to all of us. Maybe unsung in N.Z She has done so much - especially for early readers.
07-06-2023
We found this a very easy to read book. Felt as though we were sitting with her and involved in a conversation. Beautifully written, lovely language and overall an excellent read.
29-05-2023
We all recognised Joy Cowley's multiple talents, both creative and practical, culminating in an enjoyable read.
18-05-2023
Reception of this book was mixed; we enjoyed an insight into Joy's life and how she lived but parts were slow and uninteresting. Some of us loved it and some not so much. An insprrational woman none the less.
20-04-2023
We all enjoyed this very much. Many comments on finding out more about the life and career of a beloved N.Z. author. Someone even brought along Mrs Wishy Washy to share!
19-09-2022
An easy read and as we are all about her age it roused many memories. Several members loved this book, others liked it but found some of the family information uninteresting and were not so engaged by her spirituality. We found her views on writing and on children's literature very interesting, were surprised to learn she had written novels, and were disappointed there was nothing about her more recent books, 'Aotearoa Psalms' and 'Psalms Down-Under'.
11-05-2020
Most rated Joy's book highly and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. We enjoyed reading about the craft involved in writing children's books. Some found the middle section a bit harder to get through and we admired her honesty and the way she handled sensitive subjects without saying too much. Beautifully written. "When we all grow up, we want to be children."
01-12-2019
Loved by most members. Inspiring author, we have great respect for Joy Cowley and were very moved by her writing. Triggered childhood memories and generated good discussion.
04-10-2019
Interesting insight into Joy Cowley's life. Naturally a great style of writing but some of us found it got a little slow and even tedious in the middle.
07-09-2018
What a great and easy read, but a book so full of life and wonderful stories - we will think about them for a while! We will have to have a look for more novels by her now!
07-09-2018
We all loved this one. We related to a story of our time set in New Zealand. Joy is funny and poignant. A lovely memoir.
07-09-2018
All of us enjoyed this memoir very much. It provoked a very lively discussion and we shared many memories of events in our lives that were similar to Joy Cowley's. There was much favourable mention of how Cowley covered difficult topics without going into too much graphic detail.
16-02-2018
All thoroughly enjoyed this book, some wishing for more autobiographical detail. Good discussion about the writer and the difference between the genres of memoir and autobiography.
16-02-2018
We liked the idea of a memoir as opposed to an autobiography. The group had quite mixed opinions of the book and of Joy Cowley herself. Some thought her a really positive, kind woman whilst others thought her too good to be true. Some found the writing quite lyrical and beautiful and the book itself really enjoyable. Others thought the story quite boring, with what might have been the most interesting parts either glossed over or omitted altogether. Several of us saw a parallel between her writing and the movement of the sea she wrote so eloquently about.
16-02-2018
The group members all loved this book, and were off to find and read Joy Cowley's own books. People noted feeling "energised and inspired", and also admired the "deceptive simplicity" of her style of writing.
16-02-2018
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this book, even those who generally prefer fiction and/or dislike biographical material. The book contained gentle humour, and deepened everyone's knowledge and understanding of Joy as an author and a person. The language was excellent and very descriptive. We all felt that if there had not been people in Joy's early life who were able to facilitate and encourage her talent, we may not have experienced this great New Zealander.
16-02-2018
Loved the book. An amazing woman, and a very modest one as well. The majority of our group are teachers or have connections with school libraries, so know her childrens' books and readers well. We have also read many of her religious works. We thoroughly enjoyed our first book of the year.
16-02-2018
Wonderful read by a wonderful NZ author. Enjoyed by all.
16-02-2018
Our group felt that Joy Cowley's memoir was very inspirational. She has the trick of understating very important values and truths within a lively awareness of her place in creation as she experiences it. She has an eye for the beauty and purpose in living, and has a passion to share the things she cares about... She has a regard and respect for the history of the past and the importance of the present to create a better future for all. Highly recommended.