Winner of The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2019
Winner of the Ngaio Marsh Crime Writing Awards 2019
Winner of the New Zealand Booklovers Prize for Fiction 2019
Winner of the NZ Heritage Book Awards 2018
Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Awards 2020
This multi-award winning novel explores the controversial topic of the death penalty with empathy and a probing eye for injustice.
‘Magnetic’ New York Times
The offender is not one of ours. It is unfortunate that we got this undesirable from his homeland.
Auckland, October 1955. If young Paddy Black sings to himself he can almost see himself back home in Belfast. Yet, less than two years after sailing across the globe in search of a better life, here he stands in a prison cell awaiting trial for murder. He pulled a knife at the jukebox that night, but should his actions lead him to the gallows? As his desperate mother waits on, Paddy must face a judge and jury unlikely to favour an outsider, as a wave of moral panic sweeps the island nation.
Fiona Kidman’s powerful novel explores the controversial topic of the death penalty with characteristic empathy and a probing eye for injustice.
About the author
Dame Fiona Kidman OBE, Légion d’honneur, is one of New Zealand’s foremost contemporary writers. A novelist, short story writer and poet, she is the author of more than 30 books. She has worked as a librarian, radio producer and critic, and as a scriptwriter for radio, television and film. She lives in Wellington.