As a boy in the early 1940s, young Boden Black finds his life changed forever the day his neighbour Dudley drives him over the hills into the vast snow-covered plains of the Mackenzie country. Unexpectedly his world opens up and he discovers a love of landscape and a fascination with words that will guide him throughout his life, as he forges a career as a butcher and poet, spends a joyous summer building a hut on the slopes of Mount Cook and climbs to the summit in the company of Sir Edmund Hillary.

A moving exploration of one man’s journey and the events which shape him, The Hut Builder is also an evocative celebration of the mountain world and the wonder of life.

I wonder why Edwin’s mother left him – why his mother left and mine stayed? I mean, which is the more damaging – the mother who tells you she loves you and leaves, or the mother who calls you stupid and stays?

This beautifully written novel is about finding love in the most unlikely of places. Set in the southern South Island, it describes the unusual bond formed between sixty-two-year-old photographer Edwin and twenty-two-year-old Matilda, as their relationship grows in ways neither could possibly have predicted.

I liked the look of concentration on his face when we made love. His hands moved gently over my body; it was as if he was turning the pages of some fragile book – the type of book that has tissue pages, like an old-fashioned Bible. He reminded me, too, of a child learning to read. I pictured his fingertips tracing the words on the page, his lips mouthing the sounds, so intense was his focus. ‘Edwin,’ I teased, ‘am I a good book?’

One of the reasons she was attracted to etchings was the deep, rich, black of the oily ink. A good layer of black ink was fathomless, like the sky or the sea at night. It was black as the unconscious mind, full of life but beyond reach.

Quinn is a successful artist creating new works for an upcoming exhibition. She lives on the coast with Marcus, a vet who left his wife for her and lost contact with his young daughter Audrey as a result. Entering their lives is Callum, a deep-sea diver with a love of the ocean. As the countdown to Quinn’s exhibition progresses, each must face challenges and make choices that will test their loyalties and have far-reaching consequences for their future.

Reach is about risk-taking and the ways in which creativity, struggle and danger empower individuals and enrich life.

Funny and moving, this novel subverts notions of ‘man vs. wild’ while showcasing female experience through encounters with family, friends and the natural world.