Ordinary People Like Us

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The stunning final novel from one of New Zealand's finest writers. Ambitious, funny, wise and deeply affecting, Ordinary People Like Us calls to mind the immersive narratives of Elena Ferrante and Isabel Allende.

'And here I was thinking we were just ordinary people.'

From the gumfields of the Far North, through inner-city Auckland and across oceans to London, Ordinary People Like Us follows five generations of Maori women as the world around them changes - and they change with it.

Bird. Kaa. Annie. Jen. Lorna. Pax. Where should we start? What is there to know?

They love fiercely and have secrets they'll take to the grave. They endure loss so great the future feels impossible. They carry the past in their bodies and in stories handed down like heirlooms.

But their fates are not shaped by history or ghosts. They forge their own paths, in the everyday choices and small acts of courage that make up the glittering fabric of their lives. The ordinary conversations that mean nothing and everything all at once.

Expansive and intimate, Ordinary People Like Us is a powerful story about family and the ways that love always pulls us home.

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