The Timid Bookseller: Much Ado About Reading

New Zealand is famous for its beautiful scenery and friendly people. Both are true, but there is more--a literary tradition second to none. The Timid Bookseller is a tribute to that tradition through the eyes of identical triplets named after Katherine Mansfield, Janet Frame and Ngaio Marsh, three of New Zealand's greatest woman writers. Set in a rural town in the tumultuous 1980s, the novel also exposes a dark side to Kiwi culture. Murder, a mystery surrounding the triplets/ true father, small-town intrigue and prejudice, and the iniquities of the NZ legal and racial systems lead to a shocking climax. Numerous references to famous novels and writers interweave throughout the plot--all done with a healthy dash of Kiwi humour.

Identical triplets Katherine, Ngaio and Janet want desperately to be like their namesakes, Mansfield, Marsh and Frame.

Identical twin Leif Larsen is apparently their father, but could it be his twin, Nils? The triplets remain oblivious.

The aspiring writers endure the mudslinging of being raised by a solo mother in Paddock, a conservative farming town, to pursue their dreams of emulating their namesakes.

Timid orphan William Manchester's shabby bookshop becomes the teenagers' haven-and they the shop's saviour from ruin. Then, violence and revenge unexpectedly stalk the innocent bookseller-with catastrophic results

Could Nils really be the triplets' father? Why does a young radical Máori hate the bookshop? Where does Paris's iconic Shakespeare and Company bookstore fit in? Why does a wealthy, mysterious benefactor hide his true name?

The Timid Bookseller pays tribute to the joys of reading books in a darkly humorous, historical tale with frequent unexpected twists, set against the economic turbulence and prejudices buffeting small-town New Zealand in the turbulent 1980s.