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Katherine Mansfield’s Europe
Katherine Mansfield’s Europe
Redmer Yska
Armed with Katherine Mansfield’s letters and journals, Redmer Yska retraces her restive journeys across Europe in the latter years of her short life. Ever reminded of her own mortality, Mansfield travelled between France, Switzerland and Germany seeking a cure for her pulmonary tuberculosis, while packing as much writing into her days as circumstance, inspiration and her health permitted. -
The Axeman’s Carnival
The Axeman’s Carnival
Catherine Chidgey
Narrated by a rescued magpie, this novel takes one inside the abusive relationship of a farming couple fallen on hard times in Central Otago. Humour lightens what is often a sobering read, while also heightening the pathos. -
Steve Braunias – Missing Persons
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Sue McCauley – Landed
Landed
Sue McCauley
A novel rich in character, ‘Landed’ invites the reader to travel alongside Briar Howland, an aging woman who has survived two marriages (one husband walked out, the other took his life) as she gets to grips with the abrupt changes in her life. Juggling the various roles of single woman, ex-wife, mother, grandmother, sister-in-law, and friend, she tries to define and realise her own aspirations. -
elaeanor catton – birnam wood
Birnam Wood
Eleanor Catton
Set in New Zealand, this inspired, character-driven thriller by Booker-Prize-winning Eleanor Catton has the flaws of human nature at its heart. However, the scope of the story stretches beyond the particular, to reflect on global issues surrounding climate change, and the human hurdles that impede meaningful progress. -
horse – geraldine brooks
horse
Geraldine Brookes
Two stories, one set in the nineteenth century, the other in the twenty-first, interleave. An oil painting of a renowned racehorse connects the two, as does ruthless racism, which governs the lives of both protagonists. Heartrending, immersive and grounded in fact, this is a stellar and poignant read. -
small things like these
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grand
