In Crossing the Lines, Brent Coutts brings to light the previously untold history of New Zealand homosexual soldiers in World War II, drawing on the experiences of ordinary men who lived through extraordinary times. At the centre of the story are New Zealand soldiers Harold Robinson, Ralph Dyer and Douglas Morison, who shared a queer identity and love of performance. Through their roles as female impersonators in Kiwi concert parties in the Pacific and Egypt they found a place to live as gay men within the military forces, boosting the morale of personnel in the Pacific Campaign and, along the way, falling in love with some of the men they met. Crossing the Lines is a richly illustrated account that follows the men from their formative pre-war lives, through the difficult wartime years to their experiences living in a postwar London where they embraced the many new possibilities available. It is a story of strong friendships, the search for love and belonging as homosexuals within the military and civilian worlds, and the creation of the foundation of the queer community today.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 336

Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm

Publication Date: 07-08-2020

The poems in Sinking Lessons portray the vitality of a world full of things and beings we too often disregard, using language that vibrates in harmony with the lively tales it tells – from small, everyday events to stories of shipwrecks and strandings, resurrections and reanimations, arctic adventures and descents into the underworld. The cast of characters includes members of the poet’s family alongside heroes from myth and literature, such as Orpheus, Scheherazade and Frankenstein’s Creature. And crowding in upon these, at all times, a multitude of non-human protagonists: sun and stars, wind and water, mud and sand, body fluids, decaying matter, chemicals organic and inorganic, and a great many fishes and birds and beasts. Sinking Lessons is the first collection of poetry from Philip Armstrong, winner of the 2019 Kathleen Grattan Poetry Award.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 54

Dimensions: 150 x 230 mm

Publication Date: 07-08-2020

Aoteroa New Zealand Arts and Letters

Pages: 208

Dimensions: 165 x 215 mm

Publication Date: 01-05-2020

Jimi Hendrix, Princess Diana and Syria's Asma Al-Assad rub shoulders with Auden, Eliot and Shelley - and with the Trouser Thief Clive met during ten long weeks locked up in a closed psychiatric ward - in this offbeat and affectionate poetic biography. Since 2010, when Clive was told he had three separate life-threatening conditions, he has poured out a stream of fine poems - sometimes light, witty and paradoxical, sometimes sad, heartfelt and regretful. Some, like `Japanese Maple', an instant Internet sensation, have already made it into the anthologies. Others, like his book-length epic, The River in the Sky, are more demanding. All are packed with the unexpected ideas, inventive imagery and breathtaking wordplay that have helped him achieve his avowed ambition of becoming `a fairly major minor poet'.

Bind: hardback

Pages: 272

Dimensions: 138 x 216 mm

Publication Date: 01-02-2020

A wonderful tale of journeys, both geographical and emotional, that will keep you entertained at every turn... Cat Walker is a brilliant storyteller. Zoe Lyons Casey Jones's life is a mess. Her job bores her, her parents confuse her, and she has repeated nightmares about her ex-girlfriend. In a moment of madness she packs in her job and plans an adventure with her schoolfriend, long-time lad Danny. What she didn't plan for was an extra passenger, in the shape of Danny's estranged twelve-year-old son, Ari, who has problems of his own. The three of them are thrown together for an intense rollercoaster ride in Alice - a converted bright pink ice cream van - through some of the most beautiful and dangerous places in the world, from Tulse Hill to Tibet.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 304

Dimensions: 129 x 198 mm

Publication Date: 20-03-2020

Sophie Angel is the night lawyer. Once a week, she's the one who decides what the papers can and can't say. During the day, she's a barrister. She struggles for justice in a system that's close to collapse, where she confronts the most dangerous aspects of humanity. Her life changes when a wealthy Russian offers her the biggest case of her career, a rape trial with a seemingly innocent client. But is someone manipulating Sophie from the shadows? And is it someone from her childhood in Soviet Russia or is the danger much closer to home? With her marriage under strain and haunted by nightmares from the past, Sophie must find the answer to these questions before it's too late. This is a story about betrayal, trust, guilt and innocence, played out from the courtrooms of London to the darkest corners of Soviet era Moscow.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 320

Dimensions: 129 x 198 mm

Publication Date: 10-04-2020

Things are not going well for Maansi Cavale. Her depression is worsening, she barely passes her university exams and she winds up stuck at home, full of regret and unable to find a job. She'd do anything for a way out. Though Maansi previously considered arranged marriage an outdated tradition (only to be agreed to if you're in your mid-forties and unable to bag anybody yourself), a chance meeting at an Indian wedding party changes everything. Desperate to escape the shackles of monotony and unemployment, she agrees to marry the handsome and wealthy Aryan Alekar. She convinces herself a new lifestyle and wealth will lift her out of the pit. She secures the marriage, but not before serving up a few lies about herself... As they settle into married life, Aryan remains a mystery to Maansi: some days warm and loving, others cold and distant. Maansi can't help but wonder...who is Aryan Alekar really? And why did he choose to marry so young? While living with Aryan, Maansi realises she could never be satisfied playing housewife. After all, she once had goals and dreams. While searching for the ambitious Maansi she has buried, Maansi starts to realise that the man she has married is even further from what he seems... Can she salvage their union or will they set each other free? All the Words Unspoken is a fresh, new voice from debut British-Asian author, Serena Kaur. It is a love story that challenges our preconceptions of relationships and shows us that the choices we make have implications and ramifications far beyond the horizon we can see.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 304

Dimensions: 129 x 198 mm

Publication Date: 10-04-2020

A tale of two very different sisters whose 1890s voyage from London into remote outback Australia becomes a journey of self-discovery, set against a landscape of wild beauty and savage dispossession. London in 1891: Harriet Cameron is a talented young artist whose mother died when she was barely five. She and her beloved sister Sarah were brought up by their father, radical thinker James Cameron. After adventurer Henry Vincent arrives on the scene, the sisters' lives are changed forever. Sarah, the beauty of the family, marries Henry and embarks on a voyage to Australia. Harriet, intensely missing Sarah, must decide whether to help her father with his life's work or to devote herself to painting. When James Cameron dies unexpectedly, Harriet is overwhelmed by grief. Seeking distraction, she follows Sarah to Australia, and afterwards into the outback, where she is alienated by the casual violence and great injustices of outback life. Her rejuvenation begins with her friendship with an Aboriginal stockman and her growing love for the landscape. But this fragile happiness is soon threatened by murders at a nearby cattle station and by a menacing station hand who is seeking revenge.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 320

Dimensions: 129 x 198 mm

Publication Date: 10-04-2020

Sometimes you have to take the law into your own hands... After losing her high-powered job in Hong Kong, forty-something widow and lawyer, Maggie Macbeth, turns up on the doorstep of her old sidekick, Cath, in the sleepy Peak District village of Archdale. A fish out of water, Maggie comes into conflict with everyone and everything - especially Cath's awful friend, Tiggy - and rock bottom is just around the corner. But it turns out Maggie isn't the only one in trouble. When a crisis hits the local community, Maggie has a choice: to give up on life, or go back to her legal roots and fight for justice. But can she save the day as well as herself? This laugh-out loud debut novel shows that no battle is too big when you've got friends on your side.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 320

Dimensions: 129 x 198 mm

Publication Date: 29-02-2020

Mrs Grey is very worried. All young kangaroos have to be presented to Big Red the leader of all the kangaroos in the world. But what on earth is Big Red going to say about Keith Big Red has never met a hop-less kangaroo in all his born days He tries several ingenious ways to make Keith hop but nothing works until Keith visits the hop-spital where the doctor suggests a very scary remedy...

Bind: hardback

Pages: 32

Dimensions: 235 x 276 mm

Publication Date: 06-03-2020