Author(s): Emma Neale

NZ Fiction

I like to keep my distance from real lives, yeah? I mean, why would I want to know what was right at the heart of anyone else? Why would I want to share someone else's troubles with them, when I could just rock along, coasting on the surface, worry about nothing much more than where I was drinking tonight, or whether I was getting enough fun on the weekend . . . Colin should have the house to himself this Christmas. His flatmates are away and so is girlfriend, who has gone on holiday without admitting the chill in their relationship. So who is the distraught woman in his lounge, along with a pushchair and screaming baby? Like it or not, Colin must play the host to these uninvited guests, whose revelations begin to work loose his own tightly guarded secrets. Beautifully written, moving, acutely observed and psychologically deep, Emma Neale's latest novel captures and illuminates past and contemporary New Zealand relationships without a single false note. First published May 2006. Author Bio Emma Neale was born in Dunedin and was raised in Christchurch, San Diego CA and Wellington. After gaining her first literature degree from Victoria University, she went on to complete her MA and PhD at University College, London. She has written three previous novels, NIGHT SWIMMING (1998) , LITTLE MOON (2001) and DOUBLE TAKE (2003), and two collections of poetry, SLEEVE-NOTES (1999) and HOW TO MAKE A MILLION (2002), and edited CREATIVE JUICES, NEW WRITING (2002).