Book of Iris: A Life of Robin Hyde, The

This extraordinary biography of Robin Hyde (Iris Wilkinson) has been in the making for 40 years and fills a major gap in New Zealand’s literary history. Gloria Rawlinson, a close friend of Iris Wilkinson’s, did much of the research and completed a first draft before she died; Derek Challis, Wilkinson’s son, has brought it to completion. It is a gripping and profoundly moving story about (as our reader says) a ‘short, tumultuous, incredibly productive, sad and doomed life. It suggests comparison with both Mansfield and Frame…’. A dramatic and’ densely packed narrative, including appalling accounts of hidden pregnancies, experience as a solo mother, dependence on drugs, intimate acquaintance with sexism and poverty, mental breakdown, and an extraordinary trip in China during the Sino-Japanese war.