Showing results by narrator "Eva Seymour" in All Categories

Alice: 30-something, IQ of 159 (almost a genius), only communicates with her mother in Morse code. Her imaginary friend is back. Erika: 15, daughter of hot ‘wealthugee’ who loves Russian literature, genuine genius, killer eyeliner and killer instincts. The climate is in crisis and wealthy immigrants are flocking to New Zealand for shelter, stealing land, driving up food prices and taking over. But Alice has far more important things to worry about – hating her best friend’s husband, getting free wine and quiet-quitting her dull day job. Until she meets Erika.

In the 80s and 90s, surf culture was toxic, especially towards women. But Pauline Menczer - a dirt-poor, chronically ill, freckle-faced teen from Bondi - defied insults and intimidation to ride the waves. The reason: she simply loved to surf. But when Pauline's determination propelled her onto the pro circuit, her battle for acceptance and equality didn't end there. The endemic sexism of the industry meant prize money for women was a pittance, while sponsors ignored her because she was a lesbian and didn't have the beach babe look.

n Ueno Park, Tokyo, as workers and tourists gather for lunch, the pollen blows, a fountain erupts, pigeons scatter and two women meet, changing the course of one another’s lives. Dinah has come to Japan from New Zealand to teach English and grieve the death of her brother, Michael. Yasuko is polished, precise and keenly observant of her students and colleagues at the language school, and of the natural world. When she was 13, animals began to speak to her, to tell her things she did not always want to hear.

Lestari Aris is a woman on the edge. Her tattoo studio on Karangahape Road is hammered by burglaries; the hangers-on in her life, from a teenage runaway to a married cop, are bonded to her for reasons she can’t fathom. And years after Lestari’s father disappeared, her Indonesian mother is still lost in a self-medicated blur. When a murder in Symonds Street Cemetery whirls Lestari into the orbit of an unpredictable drug, she uncovers a decades-long covert clinical study targeting rough sleepers and others on the fringes – and its dark connections with her own life and history.

1975, Ballarat Alice is happy in her world and in return for her happiness the world is good to her. She has everything she needs—a lovely house and children, and a devoted husband. Even though her journalism job doesn't pay much, she doesn't have to worry about the bills. All is well with her world until a terrible accident rips a child from her, a profound betrayal is uncovered, and things fall apart. On the same day, Alice's world collapses, a man is found brutally murdered on respected teacher Ellery's farm.