woa bookshelf
Leading the Way: How New Zealand
women won the vote
Megan Hutching
In 1893, wearing white camellias meant you supported women’s right to vote — a
red camellia in your lapel signalled the opposite.
On 19 September 1893 New Zealand women won the vote. We were the first country
in the world where women could vote in parliamentary elections but it took a
drawn-out and often bitter struggle. The fortitude and strength of the women
involved were sorely tested, as their determination to have equality and the
right to vote brought out the worst in their opponents. Some of them resorted to
cheating and lying and had opinions such as higher education is deleterious to
women’s brains, and riding bicycles deleterious to women’s health and their
reproductive ability.
Acclaimed author and respected historian, Megan Hutching tells the story of this
momentous event and gives us a look into the lives of the women and men who
fought the system and brought about this massive social upheaval, by changing
the minds and hearts of the politicians. Megan remembers her surprise and pride
when she discovered that some of her Hutching relatives from Woodville had
signed the suffrage petition. The discovery immediately connected her to the
campaign in a very personal way. I loved writing Leading the Way because the
campaign for New Zealand women to have the right to vote is such a good story.
There are heroes – and many heroines – and villains, cliffhanger situations and
a colourful supporting cast. Piecing together the story of the campaign, and of
the 1893 election, was fascinating, especially the research into the
biographies: Kate Sheppard was a remarkable woman, Margaret Sievwright was
lovely and gentle but as staunch as they come, and Henry Fish was famously
opposed to women having the right to vote.
Among the biographies are familiar names while others will be less well known.
Their stories are an important part of our history as a socially progressive
country, and their courage, loyalty and fierce belief in democracy still
resonate today. There has been an enormous arc of progress in New Zealand since
1893 but it took a long time for women to be given the right to stand for
parliament, and many more years before one was elected. Even today, reported
comments about women who hold prominent public position concentrate on their
gender rather than their abilities, so we still have a way to go before women
and men have equal rights in the way that Kate Sheppard and her sister
suffragists desired.
Magpie
Hall
Rachael King
“There were two rumours surrounding my great- great-grandfather Henry Summers:
one, that his cabinet of curiosities drove him mad; and, two, that he murdered
his first wife.” Rosemary Summers is a collector of tattoos and vintage
clothing, and an amateur taxidermist. Grappling with her unfinished thesis on
the Gothic Victorian novel and grieving the death of her beloved grandfather,
she returns to Magpie Hall alone to collect her inheritance – her grandfather’s
prized taxidermy collection, started by her great-great grandfather Henry
Summers more than 100 years ago.However, his legacy extends beyond mere
taxidermy and leads to a cabinet of Victorian curiosities; a proverbial
‘Pandora’s Box’. Will it explode the lid on the secret lives of Henry Summers
and his wife, Dora, and throw a new light on her mysterious disappearance?
Magpie Hall explores the fleshly taboo around class and tattoos in the Victorian
era; the intimacy and atavistic nature of a marriage and contemporary
relationships; the potentially obsessive/ compulsive behaviour of collecting
flora, fauna (and other things) that can decimate native species and ruin lives.
A modern-day ghost story with a twist, this is story- telling at its most
visceral and sublime. Magpie Hall is a multi-layered story; a delectable Gothic
novel inside a ghost story inside a Gothic novel. Rachael King brings a sharp,
dark edge to this literary drama and a playfulness to the genre of the Gothic
novel. She recalls the ghostly spirit of Wuthering Heights and evokes past and
present-day New Zealand with intelligence and ease.
A
Song in the Daylight
Paullina Simons
A blinding passion. A perfect marriage. An impossible choice.
Larissa Stark is a beautiful woman who plays many roles in her life: wife,
mother, devoted friend, until a chance encounter with a stranger changes
Larissa's idyllic existence forever, leading her to question all the things she
once believed were true.
Spanning the upscale suburbs of New Jersey, the slums of Manila and the desolate
beauty of the Australian outback, A Song in the Daylight is a story of the bonds
that unite us and the desires that drive us apart.
Paullina on A Song in the Daylight: ‘[It is the story of] Larissa
Stark, a wife, a mother, a theatre director, a woman beautiful and successful in
every way, except for the slight open spaces in the corners of her soul, the
spaces into which she allows a passion for another man to flow in, and this is
the love affair that changes her life and the life of everybody around her. It’s
about love and its consequences, about children and their consequences, about
life and its consequences.’
Just
in Time to be Too Late
Peta Mathias
PETA MATHIAS DELVES DEEP INTO THE MYSTERIOUS WORLD OF MEN IN A HIGHLY PERSONAL
AND FREQUENTLY HILARIOUS PILGRIMAGE THAT WILL RESONATE WITH WOMEN EVERYWHERE.
In her bestselling guide to womanhood, Can We Help it if We’re Fabulous, the
irrepressible Peta Mathias shared with us her thoughts on being a woman. Now in
Just in Time to be Too Late, she turns her attention to what it means to be a
man in the 21st century. What makes men cry? Why are bad boys so irresistible?
What exactly is the point of sport? To what extent is a man’s self worth
connected to his job? What do men look for in a relationship? Does a man ever
get over his first love? Why do men lie? What does he need to be happy? And, of
course, why are men like buses? These are just some of the vexing questions Peta
looks for answers to. Though she has been married and has had her fair share
both of meaningful relationships and flirtatious dalliances, Peta is the first
to admit that she knew very little about the opposite sex when she began work on
this book – ‘A virgin would know more about men than me because she’s probably
listened more.’ Just in Time to be Too Late is an account of Peta’s discoveries
as she delves deeper into the mysterious world of men – a highly personal and
witty pilgrimage that will resonate
with women everywhere. How did an outspoken, fiery female chef and kiwi
personality come to writing a book about the male species? Peta Mathias states:
“It’s easy to write a book celebrating women if you’re a woman
because you have intimate, readily accessible knowledge of your subject. My
friends and I were the subject. When my publisher suggested I write a book on
men, I laughed. It would be work. Moreover, how hazardous would it be to look
into the heart of the male species? Although I have an adorable father, a
deceased husband, a brother-in-law, three brothers and five nephews, I don’t
pretend to really know men. I just treat them as I would a charming foreigner
who speaks an obscure Mongolian dialect – I nod my head in faux comprehension
and, in some situations, hope they don’t notice that I only speak high Kazakh.
Not only did I not listen, I never asked. I had no idea what men wanted, how
they really felt (difficult to hear someone when they’re not talking), or how
they saw me as I stalked off into the sunset, voluntarily or not…I interviewed
men for this book because, well, I can’t make EVERYTHING up. I wanted to ask
some real men why most of their species haven’t yet worked out that the way to
get a woman to do anything they want is by submitting to us. These guys also
helped me get away from writing about sport before I lost consciousness and
interviewing them was a great excuse to have meals with interesting, intelligent
men.” PETA
Tips
From Your Nana
Robyn Paterson
At last here is a new book that contains indispensable ideas on DIY, gardening,
cooking, sewing, handcrafts. Tips from your Nana is written in a unique style to
appeal to those 20-39 year old urbanites who are seeking to live more
self-sufficiently, but lack the basic skills which were common knowledge for
previous generations. As well as being a practical how-to book, Tips from
your Nana incorporates a unique sense of story and humour; from the bona-fide
trundler pulling Connie King who gives us her recipe for marmalade, to 25 year
old Pete who can whip up a piece of furniture in less than a day after help from
his granddad.
Wellington based author Robyn Paterson, a 30 something Gen X-er, is an
experienced television producer, director and writer. She has written for the
popular TV series Facelift, and worked extensively for The Gibson Group. Her own
production company Walking on Air Productions has been the winner of several
international awards, amongst these were four Best Short Film Awards for her
debut comedy Straight Hike for the Butch Dyke. Robyn believes her childhood
spent in Zimbabwe has been responsible for her interest in being more
self-sufficient. There, she observed her mother sewing clothes, creating a fan
belt for the car, inventing toys from toilet rolls as she coped with the
shortages of almost everything. Tips from your Nana is a wonderful Christmas
gift for the under 39s, and a great not-too-pointedly-pushy stocking stuffer for
the older over-urbanised person in your life. With its beautifully designed
pages, stylish colour illustrations and the humorous, yet simple and informative
text Tips from Your Nana is a sure-fire winner.
Alzheimer’s:
A Love Story
Vivenne Ulman
‘Vivienne Ulman has written a heart-rendingly beautiful book, moving and
sometimes unsettling. She writes with a truthful love that struggles for
lucidity about what it can mean to suffer from Alzheimer's disease, to love and,
in more than one sense, to lose someone who suffers from it. Outstanding is her
portrait of her father, who cared for his wife with a love that was both
romantic and saintly. The story of this wondrously good man will inspire and
humble readers of all kinds and ages for years to come.' — Raimond Gaita, author
of Romulus, My Father
When the last of Vivienne Ulman’s four children left home, she and her husband
were poised to enjoy their freedom. Then, her mother’s Alzheimer’s intervened.
In Alzheimer’s: A Love Story, Ulman records with tender lyricism and searing
honesty the progress of her mother’s Alzheimer’s, her own grief over the gradual
loss of her beloved mother, and the way in which her parents’ enduring love for
each other sustained them.
Into this she weaves an account of her family’s history, in particular her
father’s rise from farm boy to confidant of prime ministers — achievements made
possible by the loving strength of the woman by his side. In a reversal of
roles, he amply returned this support.
This inspiring Australian story is a tale for the sandwich generation, squeezed
on one side by concerns for their children and on the other by anxiety about
their parents. It is about illness, grief, and hardship, but it is also about
love, determination, and joy.
Looking
for Answers
A life of Elsie Locke
Maureen Birchfield
Writer and activist Elsie Locke was a remarkable woman
whose contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand went largely unrecognised during her
lifetime. In a long and eventful life she campaigned for birth control,
women’s rights, nuclear disarmament, social justice and the environment before
such causes were popular. She wrote almost 40 books, numerous articles and
School Journal stories, and was a published poet. Forthright she might have
been, but the diminutive Elsie Locke was a very private and modest person.
In this insightful and compelling biography, Maureen Birchfield peels back the
layers of the public firebrand to find an ordinary woman who negotiated enormous
personal obstacles to raise four children while striving tirelessly to improve
the world around her. Recently declassified security files confirm that the New
Zealand Security Intelligence Service (and its antecedents) had Elsie firmly in
their sights, particularly while she was a member of the the Communist Party of
New Zealand (1933–56).
Incorporating information from these files, Maureen Birchfield delivers a
fascinating portrait of a woman ahead of her time.
SMALL
MIRACLES
Coping with a difficult pregnancy, premature baby or the loss of your baby
By Rachel Stanfield-Porter and the Bonnie Babes Foundation
Small Miracles is a landmark self-help book offering
practical counselling and inspiring consolation for anyone coping with the loss
of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or prematurity, and related issues
such as infertility. Based on the grief counselling and support services offered
by the Australian Bonnie Babes Foundation for over 15 years, Small Miracles
contains the very moving stories of ordinary people (including author Rachel
Stanfield-Porter), who have experienced the traumatic loss of a baby and how
they coped with this very private tragedy, rebuilt their lives and restored
their hopes.
These are untold stories that touch all families in some way. Sometimes it’s
about immense heartbreak. Yet the line between that and the greatest possible
joy is so thin. The fact that one in every four New Zealand pregnancies ends in
a loss is not talked about much, even among friends and family. It’s a shocking
figure. The subject is often ‘swept under the carpet’ in that reserved stoic way
that New Zealanders have. Each person reacts differently. Men try to get on with
things like work, and women hold their feelings deep and close. Sometimes it’s
the other way around. Friends don’t know what to say, or how to react.
‘Orphan’ is a word that describes someone who has lost their parents; but there’s no word for parents who have lost their child. On the other hand, the babies that do survive – small miracles – provide the most wonderful tales of love and purpose imaginable. The tiny, ‘premmie’ babies that live and grow and thrive, thanks to wonderful care and the latest technology, provide unforgettable stories; each one unique.
Running
Hot
Lisa Tamati
The first Australasian woman to take on Badwater -
the world's toughest race through Death Valley - Lisa Tamati's incredible
journey of ultra-running endurance, heartbreak and resilience is an astounding
read for athletes as well as the armchair-inclined.
The Badwater ultramarathon through Death Valley in the United States is one of
the world's toughest races. Lisa Tamati was the first New Zealand woman to
compete in the race alongside such legends of the sport as Dean Karnazes and
David Goggins.
But Lisa's story is so much more than that one race. At the age of 19 she
suffered a crippling back injury and was told she should give up running. She
took that as a challenge and, with her Austrian boyfriend, went on to run, walk,
bike and paddle her way across thousands of kilometres of Europe, Scandinavia
and Africa before taking on the ultimate challenge - an unassisted crossing of
the Libyan Desert.
What happened in that desert would change the course of Lisa's life and instil
in her a love of desert running. Running Hot is a story of a life lived to the
max - a story of challenges, setbacks, heartbreaks and triumph.
The
Magical Verse of Margaret Mahy
Edited by Tessa Duder, illustrated by David Elliot
Finally, Margaret Mahy’s much-loved poems and stories in
rhyme have been collected together by her biographer, Tessa Duder, for the first
time ever in the wonderful new book, The World Witch: The Magical Verse of
Margaret Mahy.
With each of the 66 pieces accompanied by poignant illustrations by one of New
Zealand’s best, David Elliot, and packaged as a beautiful hardcover edition, The
Word Witch is set to delight generations of readers who have grown up with Mahy
and enchant newcomers to her work for many years to come. Included in The Word
Witch are such classics as Bubble Trouble, Down the Back of the Chair and
Dashing Dog, as well as other gems from Mahy’s School Journal days and her own
childhood, and some previously unpublished works.
“The lyric poems shimmer . . . with imaginative power and vibrant imagery,” says
Duder in her introduction, “[while] the comic verse sparkles with its verbal
pyrotechnics, all mischief, energy and wit, sometimes acerbic but never unkind,
and always technically accomplished.”
The Word Witch contains all the poems Tessa Duder knows of from school readers,
collections, picture books, anthologies, magazines and the private papers she
was privileged to access while researching her biography Margaret Mahy: A
Writer’s Life in 2004. It is by no means the definitive collection, she says.
“Margaret’s bountiful outpouring of fiction and poetry over some fifty years
makes it impossible to be certain that within these covers lies all the poetry
she ever wrote.” With Elliot’s classically whimsical style of illustration
paying homage to Mahy’s magnificent words, the book will appeal to the child in
us all. There are no age limits on genius, as there are no age limits on this
book.
Knotted
Michelle Holman
When Daneka Lawton was awakened at 6 a.m. by her radio alarm clock and Lilly
Allen singing ‘Smile’, she was unaware that her personal nemesis ad just stepped
off a 747 at Auckland airport.
Danny Lawton is sharp-tongued, fiery and occasionally blue-haired. With no
extended family to support her, she is struggling to look after her twin
sister’s orphaned children while working full-time in a busy North Shore
emergency department. Times are tough, but she is holding her own. And she is
determined to hold onto her own. So when the children’s paternal uncle, Ross
Fabello, turns up unexpectedly from America with instructions to take the
children back with him to meet their huge extended family, Danny marshals all
her wits and wiles for the fight of her life. Unexpectedly, she finds that her
first enemy is herself and a seemingly irresistible and totally unsuitable
sexual attraction . . .
Once again, Michelle laces her story with the vivid local settings and warm,
witty and refreshingly down-to-earth humour that readers and critics have come
to love. Michelle says she doesn’t know where the characters Danny and Ross came
from – they just appeared one day in her head arguing while she was hanging
washing on the line, producing the first of many slanging matches made up of
great one-liners. Then the eccentric Italian, Irish and Maori family members
just fell into place around them, providing the perfect foils and inspirations
for Danny and Ross’s protracted warfare.
Knotted also touches on the serious issue of breast cancer, as breast cancer
awareness and the importance of regularly screening is something Michelle feels
very passionate about. Her grandmother had the disease and she has nursed women
who had it.
Originally from West Auckland, Michelle is a registered nurse who now manages
community youth health projects in the Waikato.
Weathered
Bones
Michele Powles
The storm snaps the mast of a boat and the sound of old wood hitting bone wakes
Antoinette. Across the harbour Grace sets down her cup of tea and watches it
shudder as the wind shakes the house. And a hundred and fifty years ago the
same storm slams into the boat which carries Eliza to New Zealand. This is no
ordinary storm.
Weathered Bones tells the story of Antoinette, a widowed grandmother,
Grace, an emotional young wife, and Eliza, the lighthouse keeper from another
century, in a book of dark water, flowers and midnight paintings.
Inspired by the real-life character of New Zealand's first permanent keeper of
the light, Eliza becomes a presence in Grace and Antoinette's lives, demanding
an audience, a voice and perhaps even a life of her own in the present day . . .
'This is spine-shivering territory, the haunted past reaching out to touch
the present, and turn it on its head. A book full or 'real' women from an
exciting new writer.' Dame Fiona Kidman
Waiting
Room
Gabrielle Carey
‘It all started with
her bare feet. I’d never seen them like that before, from that angle, looking so
vulnerable.’
When Gabrielle Carey’s mother, who is usually pedantically punctual and
organised, begins to forget basic things like where she put her purse, Gabrielle
knows that something is wrong. Scans reveal a brain tumour, and doctors advise
its urgent removal. But there is another urgency at hand. Biding the dreadful
passing of time in doctors’ waiting rooms, Gabrielle begins to realise how much
her mother has left untold, how many questions she still wants to ask her, and
how little time there is left for answers.
Amid organising appointments, looking after her own children, and battling her
mother’s stubbornly principled idea that she should be left to die, Gabrielle
begins to voice the unasked — to attempt to discover the mother whom she has
lived with all her life but never truly known.
In this sharp and honest memoir, we see what it is that families, in all their
complex dynamics, can give to each other, and just what they stand to gain when
they lay down their arms and let each other in.
Gabrielle Carey was born in Sydney and published her first co-authored
book, Puberty Blues, at the age of 20. She then travelled, and lived
between Ireland and Mexico for several years, before returning to Australia.
Carey is the author of fiction and non-fiction books, including In My
Father’s House, The Borrowed Girl, and So Many Selves. She
teaches writing at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Shimmer
Basia Bonkowski
‘She gazes with courage at what's seldom glimpsed, and discovers her mother’ — Sue Woolfe
Shimmer
spans the last thirteen days of one woman’s life. An exquisitely written account
of how one family came to terms with their mother’s death,
Shimmer
is also a celebration of life and the relationship between a mother and her
children. Her
book tells the story of her mother's death, the bedside vigil, the anguish of
trying to decide whether to medically intervene to keep her alive, or to let her
aged mother die naturally. It also presents her mother as the real and vital
person she was before she fell ill. Basia's brother is a neurosurgeon living in
Christchurch, and was at his mother's bedside along with Basia.
‘Death is one
journey you truly take by yourself. There is no one else beyond the skin of your
hands, the toes of your feet, the sweat on your brow.’
The
Fraud
Barbara Ewing
1765. Filipo di Vecellio of Florence, portrait painter, is
the toast of London: rich, successful, and married to Angelica, known as the
most beautiful woman in the city. Their Pall Mall home is the hub of the art
world; their impressive social gatherings run so smoothly by Filipo's silent
sister, Francesca. But beneath the surface, the house conceals a swarm of
dangerous secrets. Where does Francesca di Vecellio go as the sun sets over
Covent Garden? And why are there always candles lit in her attic, while no
candles burn for her brother's exquisite wife? Within the bustling artistic
lives of the di Vecellios hides corruption and lies; love and tragedy. And wild
ambition unbalances the capital's art world as, finally, a wonderful portrait
battles for the right to paint the truth...
Ten
Degrees of Reckoning
Hester Rumberg
In 1993, Judith and Michael Sleavin and their two
children set out to live their dream: to circumnavigate the world on their
sailboat Melinda Lee. But one night, a freighter off the coast of New
Zealand altered its course by a mere ten degrees. And changed everything. After
44 hours in the water, with a back broken in several places and paralysed below
the waist, Judith miraculously survived. Doctors would say later she suffered
one of the worst cases of post-traumatic stress syndrome ever documented. News
of the collision made headlines around the world but, distraught, Judith never
talked to the press. Her body was broken and so was her soul. Twelve years later
Judith turned to her best friend, Hester Rumberg, and asked her to write what
was too painful for Judith. The result is a gripping, unbelievable yet true
story of one family's love, of profound loss and of a remarkable woman who
decided to live when others might have decided otherwise. It is an account of
survival and a meditation on the strength of friendship and community. It is a
universal tale of how any of our lives might be unexpectedly altered, how we
might have to change what we hope for and how we can move forward in times of
tragedy.
The
Italian Wedding
Nicky Pellegrino
Settled in London and with their own delicious slice of home in the form of
Beppi's restaurant, 'Little Italy', the Martinellis are a typical Italian
family; fighting, eating and loving in equal measure. Now, Pieta's sister
Addolorata is getting married. Since Pieta is a bridal designer it falls to her
to make the wedding gown. But she is distracted by a series of family mysteries.
Why is her father feuding with another Italian in the neighbourhood? Why is her
mother so faded and sad? And could the man she's always held a torch for really
be getting married to someone else? As Pieta stitches and beads her sister's
wedding gown she uncovers the secrets that have made her family what it is and
that stand between her and happiness. THE ITALIAN WEDDING is a feast of food and
love. It's about discovering who your family really are. And who you really want
to be.
The
Cresent Moon
Ans Westra and Adrienne Jansen
The terrorist attacks in the United States September 11, 2001, changed the world
overnight. Muslims in all corners of the globe suddenly found themselves the
object of suspicion and distrust while Islam was sensationalised in media
reports as a doctrine of terrorism. In New Zealand, concerned Muslim
organizations responded to a spate of anti-Islamic incidents by releasing a
joint declaration denouncing all terrorism. The Federation of Islamic
Associations of New Zealand subsequently launched Islam Awareness Week, opening
the doors of mosques around the country each year in a bid to increase
understanding. The Crescent Moon: the Asian Face of Islam in New Zealand opens
new doors into the lives of the largest group of Muslims in New Zealand and in
the world as a whole: those of Asian descent. Photographer Ans Westra and writer
Adrienne Jansen — armed with a camera and a tape recorder — take a trip through
the country, catching up with people in their everyday lives. They meet a very
diverse group, ethnically, culturally, and theologically. There are lawyers and
farmers, computer trainers and butchers, fourth generation New Zealanders and
new migrants. They talk with disarming honesty about the media, about 9/11,
about identity, about their faith — but mostly they just talk about who they are
and their life in New Zealand today. A project of the Asia New Zealand
Foundation, this book provides a captivating and often surprising insight into
the lives of Asian Muslims — an intrinsic part of New Zealand since the first
Muslim Chinese gold miners landed on these distant shores over 130 years ago.