AustLit

'The Peastick Girl tells the story of Teresa Matheson, her sisters Mollie and Cass, and the untimely and mysterious death of their mother.

'Teresa has returned to Wellington after five years in Melbourne where she has written a quest novel for younger readers, had two affairs, and met the demon Arkeum. Haunted by childhood memories, assailed by hallucinations and visions, she retreats into isolation in a house near her family home.

'What is and what might have been disturbingly converge. Struggling to maintain her equilibrium she is rescued by the return from Australia of Nikolai, her Russian lover. In an isolated, seemingly fairytale location she finally stumbles across the hidden truth of her past and finds an ambiguous peace.

'A sharply focused and often humorous account of New Zealand life - a world of men, Rugby, feminists who feel they've lost their way, Russian émigrés and powerful but disaffected Maori women - The Peastick Girl is a complex tragi-comedy of manners.'(From the publisher's website.)