Fiction Suggestions

Hi,

I'm not a Kiwi so I hope it's alright to post here? I have a friend visiting New Zealand and she would like some suggestions for fiction books to read set in New Zealand that give a flavor of what life is like in New Zealand.

Hi

As you can see this group is pretty quiet. I don't know the answer to your question as I don't read NZ contemporary fiction, but there's plenty of book lists that I'll post below. I don't know if the lists meet your friend's criteria though. Many lists of New Zealand Authors aren't set in contemporary NZ. Your friend might be want to try some non-fiction too. A book on kiwi slang would be especially useful, and it might not be used much in contemporary fiction.

One novel to try is The forrests. My workmates have read it and liked it.

There has been a bit of debate lately about the perceived lack of contemporary literary fiction set in New Zealand.

One writer opined that "New Zealand novel in recent years has not had much to do with New Zealand’s national moral, social and political concerns.” And this article discusses NZ contemporary fiction but doesn't give one example! http://www.booksellers.co.nz/members/services-membership/contemporary-fiction-ao...

http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Literature/Places/NewZealand/

http://www.randomhouse.co.nz/books/nz-fiction.aspx

http://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/EN/News/NewsArticles/Pages/top20nzfiction.a...

Cheers
Tom