In this little known work, Gee describes in
fascinating detail his boyhood and family life in West Auckland and
offers illuminating insights into some of the creative forces which have
driven some of his fiction: the creek with its dangers – where, he
writes, he glimpsed ‘sex and death’ – the kitchen with his mother
preparing dinner in the gathering dark, and his elderly uncle, later the
model for the magnificent Plumb.
Maurice Gee is widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s greatest authors,
for both adults and children. He has received numerous awards,
nominations and grants for his adult fiction, including the Wattie Award
and the Montana Award, and also for his young adult and children’s
books. In 2004 he received a Prime Minister’s Award for Literary
Achievement. His adult novels include the Plumb trilogy, Going West, Prowlers, Live Bodies and Blindsight.