The Writing Class Stephanie Johnson Random House, $38.00, ISBN 9781775532590 The Last Days of the National Costume Anne Kennedy Allen and Unwin, $37.00, ISBN 9781743313862 Two writers of a similar age and stage in the development of their writing careers,…
The Larnachs Owen Marshall Random House, $39.99, ISBN 978869794972 Meet the Larnachs: Owen Marshall’s choice of title is revealing in its use of the definite article and the plural. Generally, those who know the name Larnach know only one…
The Night Book Charlotte Grimshaw Vintage, $36.99, ISBN 9781869793500 The Night Book began life as a story in Singularity. Here it opens the novel, and then the plot jumps six years. The novel’s central characters are the Lampton family:…
Politics 101 Anna Smith Canterbury University Press, $29.95, ISBN 1877257419 The Sound of Butterflies Rachael King Black Swan, $27.99, ISBN 1869417941 Davey Darling Paul Shannon Penguin, $28.00, ISBN 0143020773 Weeping Waters Anne Maria Nicholson HarperCollins, $34.00, ISBN 1869506170 Four debut…
Disputed Ground, Robin Hyde, Journalist Gillian Boddy and Jacqueline Matthews (eds), Victoria University Press, $34.95 A book of selected journalism seems an unlikely place to make a serious assessment of a writer. Journalism is regarded as ephemeral, lost in musty…
A Population of One Alice Glenday, Vintage, Auckland, 1991, $19.95 The Peace Monster John Smythe, Vintage, Auckland, 1991, $24.95 The Widowhood of Jacki Bates Frances Cherry, New Women’s Press, Auckland 1991, $19.95 Strained Relations Gaelyn Gordon, Vintage, Auckland, 1991, $24.95…