The Burning Boy

by Maurice Gee

The Burning Boy won the New Zealand Book Awards in 1991.The Burning Boy is a vivid picture of life in a provincial town in times of disturbance and change. Certainties collapse in the face of violence. People start along strange ways, some to loss or ruin, others to unexpected happiness.'Written with verve and economy, Maurice Gee's novel has a wealth of penetratingly observed incidents, some spectacular and dramatic, some distinctly unpleasant. Most, however, are ordinary, everyday events from which Gee builds an engaging narrative and a detailed picture of the life of the city - a city which, under different names in successive novels, he is steadily making into his equivalent of Hardy's Wessex.' - Times Literary Supplement

Genres: Fiction

Hardcover

Published November 5, 1990

About the author

Maurice Gough Gee was a New Zealand novelist. He was one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and having won numerous awards both in New Zealand and overseas, including multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the UK, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Robert Burns Fellowship and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. In 2003 he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists across all disciplines by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, which presented him with an Icon Award.
Gee's novel Plumb (1978) was described by the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature to be one of the best novels ever written in New Zealand. He was also well-known for children's and young adult fiction such as Under the Mountain (1979). He won multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and in 2002 he was presented with the prestigious Margaret Mahy Award by the Children's Literature Foundation in recognition of his contributions to children's literature.

Reviews

[Elle Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

An observational story of the lives of loosely knit characters from a small town in New Zealand. It mostly centres around the high school principal, Norma, and her take on her world but jumps readily to the characters that she interacts with, adults and teenagers alike. Most of the characters are deeply flawed and damaged and there is very little there to like about them although in a strange way, you do connect with the characters, perhaps because you can see a little bit of your own reality reflected in their lives.

[Alice Montague · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first Kiwi author I've (knowingly) read. Really enjoyed it.