Celebrating the Auckland Writer’s Festival with some of our favourite reads for the month of May.
THE SPACE BETWEEN
Lauren Keenan
As English settlers clash with local iwi in Taranaki in 1860, the lives of Frances and Matāria become intertwined. Frances, a once-respected Londoner, unexpectedly comes face-to-face with the man who jilted her a decade earlier. He is married to Matāria, who is shunned by her own whānau due to the controversial marriage. Both women must confront their pasts, even if it means risking it all. Gripping and unforgettable.
Penguin, RRP $37.00
BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD
Toshikazu Kawaguchi
There is a small cafe in a back alley in Tokyo that has been serving the same coffee for the past 100 years. The coffee shop offers customers a unique experience: they can travel back in time, but there are rules that make this risky. A beautiful, moving read that begs the question: who would you travel back in time to meet again if you could?
Pan Macmillan, RRP $19.99
KNOWLEDGE IS A BLESSING ON YOUR MIND
Dame Anne Salmond
This is the story of Aotearoa and one woman’s pathway through our changing land. This important book traces Dame Anne Salmond’s journey as a writer, activist, anthropologist, wife, and mother. It brings together her key writing over the decades that explores the Māori world, cultural contact, Te Tiriti, and the wider Pacific. Beautifully insightful and sensitively explored, this book is a must-read.
AUP, RRP $65.00
DIVINE MIGHT
Natalie Haynes
Natalie Haynes impressed readers with her women in Greek myths in Pandora’s Jar. Now she turns her attention to the goddesses in Greek myths: there is Hera, Zeus’s wife, who seeks revenge when confronted with her husband’s dalliances; Aphrodite, who will make you miserable if you annoy her; and Athene, who sprang fully formed from her father’s head. Original and compelling, this is non-fiction writing at it’s best.
Picador, RRP $39.99
words — KAREN MCMILLAN, bestselling author
karenm.co.nz | nzbooklovers.co.nz
