The NZ Booklovers Awards is now in its fifth year of celebrating the best of New Zealand books, and here are some of the shortlisted books in the Fiction Category, where the judges were looking for the best in storytelling, a novel they couldn’t put down!
BY THE GREEN OF THE SPRING
Paddy Richardson
The First World War brutally rips a young couple apart when Otto, who is of German descent, is interned on Somes Island. Pansy becomes pregnant and marries her childhood friend Clem Bright, whose story is told through their daughter Lena’s eyes. No one emulsifies historical fact and imagination better than Paddy Richardson.
HARBOURING
Jenny Pattrick
Opening in 1839, Martha and Huw escape a grinding life of poverty in Wales to start a new life in Wellington, but they struggle in this burgeoning society. Hineroa, a young Māori wahine whose life is dominated by oppression, faces different struggles. This is an immersive read with suspense and energy that brings our nation’s history to life.
THE DARKEST SIN
D.V Bishop
This is the enthralling follow-up to City of Vengeance, which won the NZ Booklovers Fiction Award in 2022. Once again, D.V. Bishop creates a captivating story set in 1500s Florence, with detective-protagonist Cesare Aldo investigating a report of intruders at a convent. The author skilfully brings the dangerous streets of this Renaissance city to life.
THE SLOW ROLL
Simon Lendrum
A stunning debut crime novel set in Auckland, where professional gambler O’Malley tries to find a runaway daughter, but before long, there is a murder, and it seems his girlfriend Claire is better at part-time sleuthing than he is. Intricately composed, it has a tone that tightropes between dry and melancholic and the O’Malley/Claire dynamic is irresistible. The Slow Roll has gone on to win the NZ Booklovers Best Fiction Award for 2023.
