A Breed of Women Novel Harper & Row 1979 Synopsis A bestselling and influential novel, this compulsive story examines women’s changing lives. ‘One thing she had learnt was that she and Leonie belonged to a breed of women who were indestructible. They were survivors.’ Taking risks is something Harriet seems driven to do as she …
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/a-breed-of-women/
Mandarin Summer Novel Heinemann 1981 In 1946 Luke Freeman returns from the war and takes his wife, Constance, and eleven-year-old daughter, Emily to live in the Northland of New Zealand. It is only after they arrive that they find the land Luke bought from Brigadier Barnsley is useless. During the following drought-stricken summer the Freemans’ …
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/mandarin-summer/
Mrs Dixon and Friend Short stories Heinemann 1982 Mrs Dixon and Friend sees Kidman returning to the theme of a woman’s search for individual identity which she first explored in A Breed of Women.
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/mrs-dixon-friend/
Gone North Text: Fiona Kidman Photographs: Jane Ussher Non-fiction Heinemann 1984 Synopsis Gone North is the result of a number of journeys through Northland by writer Fiona Kidman and photographer Jane Ussher. Fiona was brought up in Kerikeri and Waipu and believed she was on familiar territory although she quickly realised, as her journeys progressed, …
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/gone-north/
Going to the Chathams: Poems 1977–1984 Poetry Heinemann 1985 The author’s second collection of verse, including the long title poem.
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/going-to-the-chathams/
Unsuitable Friends Short stories Century Hutchison 1988 Synopsis This collection of short stories includes Earthly Shadows, winner of the Mobil/New Zealand Outlook Short Story Award. The stories deal with women caught between action and its moral consequences and the responsibilities inherent in freedom of choice.
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/unsuitable-friends/
Wellington Text: Fiona Kidman Photographs: Grant Sheehan Random House, 1989 Synopsis Those of us who love Wellington appreciate wonderful Indian summers when a haze falls across the brown and blue countryside, or the excitement of winter storms in which nobody is entirely safe; it is not a city for the faint-hearted.
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/wellington/
True Stars Novel Century Hutchison 1990 Synopsis Who is trying to scare Rose? This gripping novel is a vivid portrayal of New Zealand in the 1980s. Rose Kendall is alone. She is isolated from her children, her friends, and her political ideals, and there is someone trying to scare her – she doesn’t know why …
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/true-stars/
Wakeful Nights Poems Vintage 1993 Synopsis This collection echoes Kidman’s progression as a poet and as a woman. It reflects her experiences with family and friends, experiences of love, birth and death. The theme of wakeful nights recurs through the book, from the early poems, to those discussing half-remembered dreams and nightmarish experiences, to her …
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/wakeful-nights/
The Foreign Woman Short stories Vintage 1994 Explores the unexpected depths of emotion that lie beneath the surface of the lives of ordinary women.
Permanent link to this article: https://fionakidman.com/the-foreign-woman/
