Random House New Zealand: 495 books

This unique novel is both a compelling love story and an insightful writing manual. *'Writers take what we learn of human nature and, fuelled by our longings for other existences and other times, forge new identities that can be as real as she is, sitting with her dog on the weathered step of the...

**The celebrated author of gentle despair and stylish horror takes a picaresque and light-hearted tilt at prostitution, the Mafia, real estate and the supernatural in this entertaining urban fairytale.**Lydia, a gorgeous, blonde of uncertain age, has for several years been the chief entertainer at...

This rich and darkly funny novel is about family history and the risk and power of knowledge.'I want to tell you a story about my mother, although of course it is also mine - inherited, along with dangly earlobes and a horror of deep water.' Janine's mother had an obsession: her ancestry. But what...

Adventure, danger and mystery from the award-winning Ted Dawe.'The year mum died and Dad went mad I was packed off to a farm for a while.' The first sentence sets the scene for this tender and dramatic story. But this is no ordinary farm: our narrator's Aunt Lorna, Uncle Frank and five cousins belong...

**An excitingly contemporary and innovative blend of a beautifully written novel with pictures by a critically acclaimed author.**Rudy is a successful architect, but life is not as happy as it should be. His work leaves him artistically frustrated, his wife and two young daughters have moved out of...

**A memoir of restaurateur and chef Jo Crabb, the story of her enviable life between Martinborough and southern France, with recipes from her cooking school Careme.**Jo Crabb and her husband artist Stephen Allwood spend most of the year in Martinborough, Jo running her cooking classes from Palliser...

True, brilliantly written story of how one young man solved his crisis by rowing the Atlantic. This is a story about trying to find happiness. There is a strange trick to being happy. You have to think certain things, believe certain things and hold your tongue the right way. This is the story of...

Wry and poignant, this quirky novel is about resilience and defiance in the face of loss.** "Dear Invisible Elaine, I know you are out there somewhere, but it would be really wonderful if I could find you." The Wedding at Bueno-Vista takes us into the world of Elaine Frobisher, a woman who...

A mother and daughter arrive at Blackpeak Vineyard in search of a new life and new love in this sizzling romance. Longing for a new life in the country, former television executive Lizzie Harrington settles on the vineyard south of Blackpeak Station, bringing with her some glamorous guests - none...

**Witty and ironic, this novel follows an intriguing return to the family home on the lonely margins of the sea.**Stephanie was always the outsider - never allowed to play with the china dolls on the staircase landing, always on the edge of family events, shut out of the important secrets. Now, after...

Moving, insightful, lyrical and also at times very funny, this novel is a supple, disarmingly frank exploration of parenthood.Liam and Iris have one son: Billy, a bright 'toddler puddling about like a penguin, leaving surrealist art installations all over the house- a tiny cow in a teapot in a hat...

Moving, acutely observed and psychologically deep, this fine novel captures and illuminates past and contemporary relationships. Colin should have the house to himself this Christmas. His flatmates are away and so is his girlfriend, who has gone on holiday without admitting the chill in their relationship....

A noir novel, creepy and compellingAt 11.06 pm, on 6 September 2001, eighteen year old Shane stands near the house of his girlfriend's father, staring at the hilt of a sword stabbed into the ground. The next morning, his best friend Will is sitting in a police station, trying to explain the tangled...

**YA thriller about a teen discovering the truth of his grandfather's terrible past as a World War Two fighter pilot.**When 17-year-old Matt dreams that he is a World War Two pilot in a dogfight against the Germans, something strange happens. Was it a dream? Because later that morning, the family...