Immagine dell'autore.

Emily Perkins

Autore di Novel About My Wife

13+ opere 547 membri 30 recensioni

Sull'Autore

Emily Perkins is a New Zealand novelist who has started to write for theatre with her adaptation of A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. Perkins started her theatre career as an acting student in Toi Whakaari's stellar Class of 1987. Her first collection of stories Not Her Real Name, published when she mostra altro was 26, was awarded the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in the UK and the Montana First Book of Fiction Award in NZ. Picador published her first novel, Leave Before You Go. The New Girl, her second novel, was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in the UK. She was the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellow in 2006 and during the Fellowship finished her fourth book, Novel About My Wife which was awarded the Believer Book Award in the US and the Medal for Fiction at the Montana NZ Book Awards. Her most recent novel, The Forrests, published by Bloomsbury in 2012, was long-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2013 and a finalist in the NZ Post Book Awards. In 2011 she was made an Arts Laureate by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra meno

Opere di Emily Perkins

Novel About My Wife (2008) 229 copie
The Forrests (2012) 147 copie
Not Her Real Name (1996) 64 copie
Leave Before You Go (1998) 46 copie
The New Girl (2001) 29 copie
Lioness (2023) 21 copie
The Picnic Virgin: New Writers (1999) — A cura di — 3 copie
The Fuse Box (2018) — A cura di — 3 copie
Daha Yolun Basinda (2015) 1 copia
Les Forrest (2015) 1 copia

Opere correlate

It [1990 TV mini-series] (1990) — Actor — 335 copie
Some Other Country: New Zealand's Best Short Stories (1984) — Collaboratore — 72 copie
The Virago Book of Wanderlust and Dreams (1998) — Collaboratore — 36 copie
The Picador Book of Contemporary New Zealand Fiction (1996) — Collaboratore — 32 copie
Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed [2004 Film] (2004) — Actor — 30 copie
Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning [2004 Film] (2004) — Actor — 24 copie
The Flamingo Anthology of New Zealand Short Stories (2000) — Collaboratore — 21 copie
New Writing 13 (2005) — Collaboratore — 17 copie
Katherine Mansfield: Selected Stories (2012) — Introduzione — 13 copie
New Zealand Love Stories: An Oxford Anthology (2000) — Collaboratore — 7 copie

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Recensioni

Mmm, I do love it when an author skewers the more tawdry aspects of contemporary life!

New Zealander Emily Perkins is the author of a collection of short stories Not Her Real Name and Other Stories (1996); and the novels: Leave Before You Go (1998, on my TBR); The New Girl (2001); Novel about My Wife (2008, see my review) and The Forrests (2012). She is also a columnist and a screenwriter, a teacher of creative writing and was the host of TVNZ7’s book programme The Good Word. Her latest release Lioness is set in Wellington NZ where she is now resident after a career which includes teaching in the UK, India, and China.

For readers whose mental image of New Zealand features pristine scenery and lots of sheep, Lioness offers an urban landscape and a world of wealth and privilege. (If you've ever watched Grand Designs New Zealand you will know that there are some really (really) rich Kiwis who exemplify the kind of inequitable society that has emerged in late stage capitalism here in Australia too. (If you have some spare millions you can buy one those palatial extravaganzas, there were six on the market on the day I looked, see here.)

The central characters in Lioness are a husband and wife power couple: Trevor is a developer under scrutiny because of some shady planning deal on a waterfront hotel, and Therese runs a chain of lifestyle boutiques, which she's about to expand into Sydney. (Where they will retire to a suitably posh address.)

We visited Wellington in 2019 so I can attest to how well the setting is realised. I'm very glad we didn't experience the terrifying plane landing that Therese describes.
The plane jolted, my champagne glass nearly snatched out of my hand by an unseen force. Landing in Wellington was infamously hairy, and even a jet like this could shake about in turbulence. The seatbelt light dinged on repeat. I drained my drink and tucked the glass into the seat pocket. Trevor was engrossed in the spreadsheet on his laptop, headphones on. We lifted and dropped, plateauing with another bump. I reached for his forearm and he unhooked his headphones. At the next bang of air, he closed the laptop. We held hands, our fingers interlaced, as around us people gasped and yelped in the shaking cabin. At the top of the galley the air stewards stared into the middle distance from their perches. If the plane crashes, I thought, it won't matter which class we are in. Another part of me thought, it will never crash with Trevor on board.

The next lift in the air — almost sweet, weightless — was followed by the sharpest drop yet, and someone screamed, and a woman behind us in the cabin started singing 'Amazing grace.' (p.9)

The oxygen masks come down, the plane banks so that all she can see through the window is the raw, bobbing ocean, and a man gets out his phone to ring his loved ones.

Next time, we'll fly in through Auckland!

It is Therese who narrates most of the novel, with what seems like disarming honesty. Her background is modest, and a makeover is part of the deal when she marries Trevor. Along with changing her name from Teresa to the more aspirational Therese, smartening up her vowels and her dress sense, she gets that wonky eyetooth straightened so that she could open her mouth when she smiled. These canines are what we used to tear our food, and this action is symbolic of the way she willingly submits to restraining any expression of anger. To enjoy this kind of good life, she has to fit in and make everything good and nice for everybody else.

Her forbearance is not the patience of a gentle personality; it is the price of the life she leads.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2023/09/06/lioness-2023-by-emily-perkins/
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Segnalato
anzlitlovers | 1 altra recensione | Sep 6, 2023 |
I was excited to discover this author's latest book the day before my birthday, so had to buy it. I found myself wanting to get back to Therese. It is a book for these times, looking at blended families, the balance between partners in relationships and consumerism. It certainly didn't disappoint.
½
 
Segnalato
HelenBaker | 1 altra recensione | Aug 20, 2023 |
Daniel is in limbo. Recently unemployed and directionless, his friend Richard takes him to visit one of his friends. He is offered a free flight to New Zealand via Indonesia, plus $10,000 on delivery of a package. The money sold him and although he realizes he is being a drug courier, he feels desperate.
He spends a week in Indonesia, confined to his hotel awaiting delivery of said package, which he has to ingest to get through customs.
Delivery of the drugs in Auckland doesn't go as planned, however he receives the promised money and thinks his worries are over. A night on the town, doubles his takings, but waking in the Youth hostel, he discovers all his money gone. He is back to being penniless and this time alone in a country where the drug contact is looking for him. A local radio station manager takes pity on him and offers him a bed and introduces Daniel to his friends. Daniel knows he has been a fool and builds a web of lies around himself.
This is one of Emily Perkins early novels and although well-written it is hard to like or feel sympathy for Daniel or any of the other characters in the book.
Yet, they are probably a realistic portrayal of a group of young adults in that time and place.
… (altro)
½
 
Segnalato
HelenBaker | 2 altre recensioni | Jan 31, 2021 |
the book started slow but I am really glad I stuck with it. I very much enjoyed it.
 
Segnalato
lynnbyrdcpa | 2 altre recensioni | Dec 7, 2020 |

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Opere
13
Opere correlate
11
Utenti
547
Popolarità
#45,593
Voto
½ 3.4
Recensioni
30
ISBN
44
Lingue
4

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