Stella’s world is unravelling in this remarkable work of speculative fiction – reminiscent of Netflix satire Black Mirror and The Handmaid’s Tale – a new novel from writer and literary agent Chris Else. Climate change is ever-present in chilling, dystopian novel Waterline. Here, in a remote South Pacific nation, coastal settlements are being inundated and families uprooted; Artificial Intelligence controls most human endeavour; social media has run amok, and many have fled from reality to live online. Losing their uninsurable beachfront home to storm and high seas, wealthy nuclear family the Handsons have little choice but to move to Byte, a bleak, southern city run by computerised bureaucracy BORIS and a gang of religious vigilantes. Separated in the move, Brian ends up on the wrong side of the law and is incarcerated, leaving wife Stella and their two teenage children, Mandy and Luke, to fend for themselves. An offer of help from a group of outsiders, living off the land, promises redemption and hope, but at what cost? Waterline explores the choices our own and future generations might have to face in our increasingly complex society. It is a dramatic and portentous tale about the decisions we make now and how they might challenge all our values. Darkly humorous, laced with violence and corruption, it also examines the human capacity for change, responsibility, self-determination, and the search for meaning and love.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 320

Dimensions: 153 x 234 mm

Publication Date: 31-10-2019

How can a community face up to the ultimate betrayal? He wonders how big God’s hand is. If he has an eye that can see the whole world in a glance, his hand must be big enough to reach out of the sky and pluck him up with his giant fingers. It is 1974 and seven-year-old Jack leads a carefree life, playing in his Auckland street. But when a new priest selects him to train as an altar boy, Jack’s world is imperilled and he shrinks away from his community, his friends and his mother. Chosen Boys explores what happens to a community when they are betrayed by those meant to care for their spiritual wellbeing. Set in a working-class Catholic community against the backdrop of the dawn raids, Molloy’s moving debut novel asks the question: who will act when a predator declares himself ‘another Christ on Earth’?

Bind: paperback

Pages: 340

Dimensions: 130 x 198 mm

Publication Date: 07-10-2019

Originally published in 2001, A City Possessed is the harrowing account of one of New Zealand’s most high-profile criminal cases – a story of child sexual abuse allegations, gender politics and the law. In detailing the events of the 1990s that led up to and surrounded the allegations made against several staff of the Christchurch Civic Crèche, author Lynley Hood shows how and why such a case could happen. A City Possessed won the Montana Medal for Non-Fiction at the 2002 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Her penetrating analysis of the social and legal processes by which the conviction of Peter Ellis was obtained, and repeatedly upheld, raises major issues for our justice system and the way we see ourselves. Peter Ellis served seven years of a 10-year jail sentence for abusing seven children at the Christchurch Civic Crèche. He has always maintained his innocence, and has gained widespread support for what many see as a miscarriage of justice. This paperback edition comes at a time when Peter Ellis and the Christchurch Civic Crèche case have returned to public attention. In July 2019, a terminally ill Ellis was granted a final appeal to the Supreme Court, scheduled for November 2019.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 620

Dimensions: 130 x 235 mm

Publication Date: 20-09-2019

‘Forgotten Philanthropist’ — these two words summarise this book. Robert McDougall was one of Christchurch’s most generous benefactors. His gift to Christchurch in autumn 1928 of the art gallery that bears his name is, in today’s monetary terms, the largest gift ever given to the city, yet today he and that gift are virtually forgotten. Robert McDougall built up his biscuit and confectionery company, Aulsebrooks, to become possibly the largest employer of staff in Christchurch in the early 1900s. It was this success and Robert’s ongoing business acumen that allowed him to exercise his philanthropy to the extent that he did. He was also heavily involved in all aspects of manufacturing and industry in Christchurch and New Zealand, participating in and helping organise trade fairs and exhibitions throughout the country. Although by nature a reserved man, Robert was a man before his time. He cared about his employees’ welfare, building sports facilities for them and helping them when in need, and he was responsible for many other acts of generosity in both Christchurch and beyond. He was also a family man, who spent far more time than a father usually did with his children in those days. This biography provides not only a welcome insight into Robert’s life and the times in which he lived—a time when Christchurch was rapidly developing—but also a return to prominence of one of New Zealand’s most accomplished businessmen and unassuming philanthropists.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 400

Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 18-10-2019

Farewell Silent Spring tells the story of how, in the course of 50+ years of dedicated R&D, highly toxic broad-spectrum pesticides were removed from the pipfruit orchards of New Zealand. It shows how spraying by the calendar, regardless of need, has been replaced by pest monitoring, biological control, and sophisticated techniques like mating disruption and selective chemicals that are toxic to pests and safe to beneficial species. Integrated fruit production, and then Apple Futures, as the new programme became known, is shown to be on par with organic production in terms of biodiversity and safety to the environment and human health, while maintaining the premium fruit quality required by export markets. New Zealand apple growers can say farewell to the "Silent Spring" predicted by Rachel Carson in her landmark book of 1962. Written by distinguished fruit entomologist and scientist Howard Wearing, this book is a must-read for all involved in the fruit industry and anyone with an interest in safe sustainable food production. Professionals and students of horticulture, entomology, and pest management will find this book an essential gold-mine of information that they will turn to again and again. Link to book review by George Follas …. https://nzpps.org/a-compelling-read/

Bind: paperback

Pages: 278

Dimensions: 170 x 242 mm

Publication Date: 24-08-2019

Now for something completely different! How many of you have ever looked closely at the details of the seeds of weeds? Some, we admit, are rather boring but then again, some of them are absolutely stunning. A glance at the front cover of this book reveals some of huge variation in the size and shape of seeds. Most of the seeds described and pictured are of weedy species, and the pictures show clearly the adaptations that have evolved to ensure they thrive as weeds: hooks and spines to attach the seed to wool, fleece or socks to help spread; awns that twist with wetting and drying to help bury the seed and anchor it in the soil during germination; seeds so tiny they blow like dust in the wind, or larger ones with wings or parachutes so they float on air; corky seed coats that act as life jackets in streams and lakes. This book will be useful for all workers in ecological research, pest plant management or, indeed, for everybody involved in agriculture or horticultural production. It is also of importance to anyone with a general interest in plants and the incredibly different forms that evolution has wrought. The book covers native and introduced species, and also includes seeds of species that have not, as yet, established in New Zealand but which have been intercepted in imported seed or other agricultural products (like cocopeat). The pictures and their descriptions are often not of the seeds as such, but of the form in which they are usually seen, surrounded by remains of flower structures that help in their survival or dispersal. The Introduction, Identification aid and Glossary are followed by 116 pages with 696 superb photographs of 623 different species, all with a brief description and distribution information. The book is spiral bound, 144 pp, with full colour photographs. The authors are Trevor James of AgResearch, Ian Popay from Landcare Research and Paul Champion from NIWA, all weed wizards; Nik Grbavac, seed specialist from Agriquality, Lincoln; and Birgit Rhode of Landcare Research. To find out how Birgit took those amazing photographs you have to buy this book!

Bind: paperback

Pages: 126

Dimensions: 182 x 245 mm

For many years those of us who have to identify grasses as part of our jobs or who just want to find out what plants are called have had to make do with tattered old copies of Lambrechsten's What grass is that? or imported works on British or Australian grasses, like Hubbard's Grasses of the British Isles. None of these books fully described the grasses now common in New Zealand, whose numbers have been boosted by the dramatic southward spread of sub-tropical grasses like Kikuyu, paspalum and the bristle grasses. This is the book that bridges the gap. Here at last is a full colour identification guide to grasses, sedges and rushes, groups of plants that are often confused and commonly put in the 'too hard' basket . 'Too hard' is no longer a valid excuse! This guide to grasses and grass-like plants is written for a wide audience, and features outstanding pictures of flowering plants as well as of the critical details needed for accurate identification. Features include an easy-to-follow format, with keys for each category (grass, sedge, rush) to aid identification, excellent colour photographs throughout, and a fully illustrated colour glossary. The authors are Paul Champion from NIWA, expert on plants of wet places; Trevor James of AgResearch, weed wizard and photographer; Ian Popay, formerly of both AgResearch and DOC and now of Landcare Research; and Kerry Ford of Landcare Research, professional agrostologist (look it up). An Illustrated Guide to Common Grasses, Sedges and Rushes of New Zealand covers both native and introduced species and therefore appeals to a wide audience from field professionals to keen amateurs.

Dame Ngaio Marsh (1895–1982), a distinguished University of Canterbury alumna, was one of the greatest crime writers of the twentieth century. Marsh was also a gifted Shakespearean director, establishing her reputation in 1943 with the Canterbury University Drama Society modern-dress production of ‘Hamlet’. Fast-paced, with a deftly-cut script, and featuring especially commissioned incidental music by Douglas Lilburn, Ngaio Marsh’s production of ‘Hamlet’ was a hit with wartime audiences. Marsh’s 1943 ‘Hamlet’ production typescript is reproduced here for the first time, together with Lilburn’s previously unpublished music and a selection of archival photographs. An introductory essay by Polly Hoskins examines the staging of the production and the wartime context in which the play was performed, offering broader reflection on Marsh’s compositional approach, and a note from Robert Hoskins introduces Lilburn’s music. This edition makes the perfect starting point for enriching our understanding of Ngaio Marsh as a Shakespearean director and producer, and presents a fresh perspective on New Zealand’s theatre history.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 134

Dimensions: 148 x 210 mm

Publication Date: 01-09-2019

‘A front-row seat to running’s most inspiring and historic moments, with New Zealand in a major role.’ Nick Willis MNZM, two-time Olympic medallist, New Zealand record-holder 1500 m ‘Roger’s account of the global rise of women’s running is the best I’ve ever seen. I’m honoured that my win in the New York Marathon and Lorraine Moller’s in the Avon Marathon are central to his story.’ Allison Roe MBE, winner and record-breaker, Boston and New York City Marathons ‘Roger Robinson is uniquely placed to write this riveting memoir. Throughout the running revolution he’s been a world-class runner, commentator, broadcaster and writer. It is an insider’s view of running – intimate, persuasive and informative.’ Lloyd Jones, Hon DLitt, award-winning New Zealand novelist, Man Booker Prize finalist About The Book: Roger Robinson has been witness to many great moments in the history of running, and to those when running made history in ways beyond sport. As an excited child at the post-war London Olympics, an ardent spectator following the drama of Peter Snell and Murray Halberg at Rome, stadium announcer at the transformative Christchurch Commonwealth Games, TV commentator when Ben Johnson got busted, and more recently as a journalist reporting live on the Boston Marathon bombings, Robinson was there. In a unique cross-over of literature, history and autobiography, Robinson tells of running in Berlin at the moment of German reunification and in New York’s Central Park the day the Twin Towers fell; he is on the TV microphone for Kenya’s first major running victory; and has to find words to help a stadium crowd mourn for the lives lost in the Christchurch earthquake. ‘When Running Made History’ is a superb depiction of the modern running movement. It provides a compelling, close-up account of the American running boom, the defiant emergence of women’s running, the glorious dawn of Africa’s ascendance, the sport’s redefinition of ageing, and its important role in environmental conservation. Robinson lets us run alongside as history is made by Emil Zátopek, Abebe Bikila, Ron Clarke, Dick Tayler, Allison Roe, Paula Radcliffe, Nick Willis, Meb Keflezighi and 85-year-old superstar Ed Whitlock. Robinson brings to life the days when running shaped the world, and shows why so many millions love to run and why running is worth loving. About the Author: Roger Robinson, now Emeritus Professor, is remembered as an outstanding teacher of English at Canterbury and Victoria universities, and by a wider public as stadium announcer at the Christchurch and Auckland Commonwealth Games, and an acclaimed commentator for TVNZ. His books include ‘Katherine Mansfield: In From the Margin’, the ‘Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature’ and ‘Heroes and Sparrows: A Celebration of Running’.   Praise for the US edition of When Running Made History (Syracuse University Press, 2018): ‘Among the countless books on athletics and running that I have reviewed over the past 60 years, this seminal book is one of the very best. Readers will be enthralled by this eloquent, knowledgeable, humorous, poignant work by a wonderfully descriptive writer.’ Mel Watman, Athletics International, UK

Bind: paperback

Pages: 328

Dimensions: 150 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 22-02-2019

Many New Zealand writers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century travelled extensively or lived overseas for a time, and they often led very interesting lives. The received wisdom is that they were forced to leave these colonial backblocks in search of literary inspiration and publishing opportunities. In The Expatriate Myth, Helen Bones presents a challenge to this conventional understanding, based on detailed historical and empirical research. Was it actually necessary for them to leave to find success? How prevalent was expatriatism among New Zealand writers? Did their experiences fit the usual tropes about expatriatism and exile? Were they fleeing an oppressive society lacking in literary opportunity? In the field of literary studies, scholars are often consumed with questions about ‘national’ literature and ‘what it means to be a New Zealander’. And yet many of New Zealand’s writers living overseas operated in a transnational way, taking advantage of colonial networks in a way that belies any notion of a single national allegiance. Most who left New Zealand, even if they were away for a time, continued to write about and interact with their homeland, and in many cases came back. In this fascinating and clear-sighted book, Helen Bones offers a fresh perspective on some hoary New Zealand literary chestnuts.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 242

Dimensions: 150 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 20-02-2018