Hibiscus Coast

by Paula Morris

Emma Taupere has just returned to New Zealand from Shanghai, where her training as a painter has made her a copyist of incredible skill.
Siaki, her ambitious and manipulative ex-boyfriend, has recruited her as a forger, shutting Emma away in a borrowed apartment on Princes Wharf. In a room housing the owner’s prize possession – a lost painting by Gauguin – Emma works day and night copying one of the most valuable Goldies in the Auckland Museum.
Lost in memories of the two men who shaped her life in Shanghai – her Chinese painting teacher, and the charismatic New Zealander with whom she had a passionate affair – Emma finds herself increasingly exposed to danger. And when talent, hubris and greed collide with disastrous consequences, Emma has no choice but to try to flee up the Hibiscus Coast…

Paperback

First published March 28, 2006

About the author

Paula Morris, a novelist and short story writer of English and Maori descent, was born in New Zealand. For almost a decade she worked in the record business in London and New York. She now lives in New Orleans, where she teaches creative writing at Tulane University.

Paula's first novel, Queen of Beauty, won best first work of fiction at the 2003 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Hibiscus Coast, a literary thriller set in Auckland and Shanghai, was published in 2005 and has been optioned for film. Her third novel, Trendy But Casual, was published by Penguin New Zealand in 2005.

Paula's first short story collection, Forbidden Cities (2008) was a regional finalist in the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

Ruined, her first YA novel, was published by Scholastic in 2009.

Reviews

[Linley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met the author recently when she was giving a talk (she is an awesome speaker) and was prompted to read one of her books. It is good to read a book set in NZ with places that are familiar and a story line that is interesting. However I didn't warm to any of the characters, didn't like Tai at all and I felt that the ending didn't quite tie up the story, especially Emma's.

Recommended to adult-level New Zealand readers who will understand the local references.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book...I loved the idea that it was about a talented forger making copies of Goldie paintings, and it just sounded like a good story. Unfortunately, for me, the story just didn't ring true...I didn't find the characters believable and just couldn't warm to any of them. Although the idea for the story was interesting, several things didn't really come together for me...Emma's skill as a forger just didn't make sense to me, and despite frequent and lengthy flashbacks to her time in Shanghai when she supposedly trained in the art of forgery under an old Chinese master, the details of how she learnt this skill were skimmed over. I would have loved way more detail here, and some kind of explanation for Emma's prodigious talent, and why, if she is so amazing at painting, she didn't appear to have attempted to make a 'genuine' attempt to be an artist in her own right. I also wanted more details about how such a disparate group of people (particularly Siaki, Tony Glass and Petra Barton) came together and hatched such a plot. I didn't like the ending either...I won't say too much but just found it all a bit convenient and then there was some important loose ends that were just left hanging. So this book gets the thumbs down from me...we are discussing it at book group next week so maybe I'll be persuaded into recognising some of its good points after that!

[Mal Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book - it kept me engaged right to the end - but wasn't expecting that ending either. I felt an empathy with the characters especially the cousin although she went well and truly off the rails. It was a really credible piece of fiction and I enjoyed the rich descriptive text. A great read.