The Exiles of Asbestos Cottage

Chaffey appeared, out of the mountains, the mists behind him, to take her back on the incredible journey and destination, like some fated ancient Greek led numb and almost stunned mentally through an underground labyrinth, to engender a legend.

From 1913 to 1951, legendary figures Annie and Henry Chaffey lived a reclusive existence in an immaculate one-roomed hut in the remote Cobb region at the top of the South Island. Annie, the daughter of a tailor from Timaru, had left behind a violent husband and two sons, and Chaffey, the son of a prosperous English family, was also healing from a failed marriage. They made a life together at Asbestos Cottage, as exiles from ordinary New Zealand society.
This true story is an account of their love, lives, trials and ultimate fate.