by Jenny Sew Hoy Agnew and Trevor Gordon Agnew. Published by Canterbury University Press, 2020. Reviewed by Gerald Scanlan

Jenny Sew Hoy Agnew and Trevor Agnew have undertaken a prodigious feat of research to present their insightful and unexpectedly relevant portrait of a truly remarkable pioneer.

While the Sew Hoy name and family are well-known in the deep south, how that came to be makes fascinating and at times disturbing reading. Jenny and Trevor draw on extensive historical records, cultural insight and family wisdom to situate Choie Sew Hoy within both Chinese and colonial British cultures and to illustrate his deft navigation between them.

In their hands, Choie Sew Hoy’s story becomes a lens on the turbulent latter decades of the 19th century, featuring the goldrush, Dunedin’s economic transformation, regional and national politics, the casual racism and outbursts of violence that Chinese immigrants experienced, the emergence of business and social elites, the boom and bust colonial economy and the striking impact of innovation and technological progress.

Choie Sew Hoy emerges from this account as undoubtedly remarkable: astute, generous, determined, gracious, courageous, bold and far-sighted. His life and story offer a compelling testament to the merits of immigration, cultural diversity and racial tolerance. It is a story about our past but also our future — a biography with a prophetic voice.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 254 November 2020: 23