Book details

Book description

Much more than a murder mystery, this powerful novel is about coming of age and loss of innocence. The body of a teenage girl is found on the beach in the days leading up to Christmas, 1980. It s an event that makes a huge impact on all those who live along Rocking Horse Road, which runs through the Spit, a long  finger of bone-dry sand between the ocean and the estuary. It s an event that for one hot summer brings together a group of fifteen-year-old boys and then keeps them linked for the rest of their lives. Evolving from Nixon s celebrated short story, this compelling novel shows New Zealand turning upon itself during the 1981 Springbok Tour. It examines how early events can influence the rest of our lives, and probes ideas of community, collective memory and story-telling. Carl Nixon is a full-time writer of fiction and plays. As well as various works for theatre, such as The Birthday Boy and The Raft, he has written stage-adaptations of The Book of Fame and J. M. Coetzee's Booker Prize winner Disgrace. His first book, Fish 'n' Chip Shop Song and other Stories was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize best first book award, his debut novel Rocking Horse Road has been released in Germany and saw him described as 'a major talent' and more recently he has published the gripping novel Settler's Creek. He lives in Christchurch with his young family.