NEW RELEASES
Summer by Ali Smith $34
Smith's outstanding quartet, written 'in real time' comes to its conclusion with this eagerly anticipated volume.
"These novels, in straddling immediacy and permanence, the personal as well as the scope of a world tilting toward disaster, are the ones we might well be looking back on years from now as the defining literature of an indefinable era. And the shape the telling takes is, if not salvation, brilliance itself." —The New York Times
Read Stella's reviews of the other books in the quartet: >> Autumn. >>Winter. >>Spring.
Wild Swims by Dorthe Nors $23
The Danish writer Dorthe Nors creates a series of intimate, psychologically acute portraits of individuals in states of emotional crisis: a woman's attempts to cope with a recent breakup lead her to commit a deeply immoral act, a professor's relationship with a much older woman takes a sudden sinister turn, a man who has grown resentful of his partner takes drastic action, and a young woman's nostalgic memories of wild swimming draw her back to the water. In attempting to escape the present moment, Nors's characters must confront the impact of the past. In prose that is both elegantly spare and saturated with emotion, Nors explores the relationships that we have with others, and those we forge with ourselves.
>>Beyond hygge.
Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh $35An isolated elderly woman and her dog investigate a murder that happened on her land, but the victim is as elusive as the killer. An existential thriller from the author of My Year of Rest and Relaxation.
A small girl's question reveals the chain of exploitation and corruption the led to a pair of diamond earrings. Greder's illustrations are even more searching and powerful than ever.
Roth shows us isolated souls pursuing lost ideals and impossible desires. Forced to remove a bust of the fallen Austrian emperor from his house, an eccentric old count holds a funeral for it and intends to be buried in the same plot himself; a humble coral merchant, dissatisfied with his life and longing for the sea, chooses to adulterate his wares with false coral, with catastrophic results; young Fini, just entering the haze of early sexuality, falls into an unsatisfying relationship with an older musician.
Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish fishing village by Lamorna Ash $35
There is the Cornwall Lamorna Ash knew as a child — the idyllic, folklore-rich place where she spent her summer holidays. Then there is the Cornwall she discovers when, feeling increasingly dislocated in London, she moves to Newlyn, a fishing town near Land's End. This Cornwall is messier and harder; it doesn't seem like a place that would welcome strangers. Before long, however, Lamorna finds herself on a week-long trawler trip with a crew of local fishermen, afforded a rare glimpse into their world, their warmth and their humour. Out on the water, miles from the coast, she learns how fishing requires you to confront who you are and what it is that tethers you to the land. But she also realises that this proud and compassionate community, sustained and defined by the sea for centuries, is under threat.
"Marks the birth of a new star of non-fiction." —William Dalrymple
Double Lives: A history of working motherhood by Helen McCarthy $33In Britain today, three-quarters of mothers are in employment and paid work is an unremarkable feature of women's lives after childbirth. Yet a century ago, working mothers were in the minority, excluded altogether from many occupations, whilst their wage-earning was widely perceived as a social ill. In Double Lives, McCarthy accounts for this remarkable transformation, whose consequences have been momentous for Britain's society and economy.
Feminist City: Claiming space in a man-made world by Leslie Kern $33
This book records an ongoing experiment in living differently, living better, and living more justly in an urban world. We live in the city of men. Our public spaces are not designed for female bodies. There is little consideration for women as mothers, workers or carers. The urban streets often are a place of threats rather than community. What would a metropolis for working women look like?
In these stories, Souvankham Thammavongsa captures the day-to-day lives of immigrants and refugees in a nameless city, illuminating hopes, disappointments, love affairs, and above all, the pursuit of a place to belong. An ex-boxer turned nail salon worker falls for a pair of immaculate hands; a mother and daughter harvest earthworms in the middle of the night; a country music-obsessed housewife abandons her family for fantasy; a young girl's love for her father transcends language.
"Sharp and vital." —Daisy Johnson
"A riveting, subversive collection." —Madeleine Thien
Wonder Women: A bingo game by Isobel Thomas and Laura Bernard $35Get to know these high-flying women from many fields and countries in this beautifully drawn (and fun!) game. Many of these women featured in the Wonder Women Happy Families Game, but there are several new additions to the pantheon in this game, including Jacinda Ardern and Greta Thunberg. The Nature Activity Book: 99 ideas for activities in the natural world of Aotearoa New Zealand by Rachel Haydon and Pippa Keel $35 Good fun and good information; produced in conjunction with Te Papa.
Those Seal Rock Kids by Jon Tucker $23When a group of young Australian and Kiwi sailing friends are allowed to camp in New Zealand's Bay of Islands, they discover something very unexpected on a tiny nearby rocky islet. Fresh cultural and environmental insights are introduced with the arrival of a pair of children from the local iwi who bring humour and resilience while facing problems that threaten to turn their lives upside-down.
Why Do Cats Meow? by Lily Snowden-Fine and Nick Crumpton $30How long have people kept cats? Why do cats like scratching chairs? What does 'meow' mean? Do cats have nine lives? Great illustrations, too.
When Jefferson the hedgehog goes to his local hairdresser's, he's shocked to discover the barber lying dead on the floor. Falsely accused of the murder, Jefferson goes into hiding in the human kingdom with only his friend Gilbert the pig to help him clear his name. But can the two hunt down the real killer before it's too late? And how is the murder connected to the fight for animal rights?
Poo Bingo by Aidan Onn and Claudia Boldt $35Now you can keep your hands clean and reunite the animals with their droppings.
