Paperback, 209 pages
English language
Published 2023 by Te Herenga Waka.
Priestley’s new memoir explores the complications of living in a world under threat across two parallel timelines. Her primary, present-tense narrative is a road trip down the South Island West Coast in the company of her lifelong friend Maz in the winter of 2021 – almost a whistlestop tour of various aspects of climate crisis, from a pillar of flame burning from a methane vent in the rainforest to coal mining operations and disappearing glaciers.
Interleaved with the weeklong road trip, in the past tense, are the experiences of teenaged Rebecca and Maz in the 1980s as they made an abrupt turn from punk culture to evangelical Christianity in an environment suffused with fears of nuclear war. Shared music and jokes, and a readiness to defy expectations, bridge the two eras
(from rnz review)
A great romp through what was essentially deconstruction, circa 1987. Well written and compelling and an enjoyable read and reflection on NZ society in snapshots; almost 40 years apart. Will be recommending to others
