At the start, the Tanner family is preparing to leave New Zealand in search of more opportunity. To leave the country, however, the couple must first sell off all of their assets, including their beloved home and land, with the help of a family member who is a lawyer.
To explain how a member of their family came to be a lawyer, Mr. Tanner (who is the narrator of the short story) explains to readers the story of how his grandfather immigrated to New Zealand from Great Britain. Mr. Tanner explains that his grandfather was an orphan in England when he was one day sent to live with a wealthy family in Auckland, New Zealand. He was sent there with the promise that he would become an apprentice in a trade. However, Mr. Tanner's grandfather quickly learns that he was sent to the wealthy family to be their servant and take care of the tasks that they did not want to, including tasks like preparing and serving food, tending to the horses, and chopping wood.
While on a shopping run to a dry goods store, Mr. Tanner's grandfather meets a young woman named Kitty, who also came to New Zealand from Great Britain. And like Mr. Tanner's grandfather, Kitty was promised to be a governess but is instead treated like a servant. Love blossoms between the two. Though they only knew each other for a few years, Mr. Tanner's grandfather tells Kitty to wait for him for three years so that he could save up enough money for them to marry and lead a happy and fruitful life together. Kitty agrees and asks Mr. Tanner's grandfather to write a letter to his sister. Mr. Tanner's grandfather is not able to write, though.
"At Hiruharma" moves forward several years and shows Kitty and Mr. Tanner's grandfather living together on a farm in a remote area of New Zealand. There, they plot their future lives together. They are poor and don't have enough money to buy the plot of land they are living on. However, the previous tenant of the property abandoned it, leaving it to them.
The couple then builds their life together. They start a massive garden and raise over 200 chickens and several pigs. The couple also utilizes a spout which allows them seemingly unlimited access to the water that lay beneath their feet.
Several years later, Kitty lets Mr. Tanner's grandfather know that she is pregnant (with Mr. Tanner's father, as readers can intuit). Mr. Tanner's grandfather drives into town to meet with a doctor, who tells him that he has no way to know if the couple will be having twins. Mr. Tanner's grandfather has a long conversation with the doctor about life and how he should conduct it. The doctor also tells Mr. Tanner that he should ask the doctor to assist him once the child comes.
Brinkman, the Tanners' neighbor, is at their residence when Mrs. Tanner is giving birth, hoping that he would be cooked a meal. Brinkman never realizes that he will not be fed that night and stays in the house, smoking his pipe and thinking that someday he will find a wife that will love and cherish him. He also hopes that the Tanners will feed him one day.
Above all, "At Hiruharama" is a story meant to entertain its readers. And it certainly accomplished its goal. Reviewers pointed to the short story's excellent writing as one of its many positive aspects. Reviewers also astutely pointed out how thematically complex the story is. It explores themes related to family, poverty, struggle, the struggle between classes, community, and upward mobility.
Although "At Hiruharama" is set in New Zealand, it could be set in any country. Like the American Dream, the desire to leave the place they are and move up in life and place and stature is universal. People want to better themselves. They want to be in a better place than their ancestors for themselves and their children.
