Surplus Women

by Michelle Duff

Survival, friendship, love, desire, pain, freedom.

Jess is the only one in her group who hasn’t lost her virginity. Genevieve is being held captive in a dug-out with her gymnastics nemesis from 40 years ago. At night, Jade absorbs catcalls like Mario powering up on mushrooms. From heaven, the Dream Team data-analyses human destinies while worrying about their job security. As Whetū and Sia race to the hospital in the rain, Whetū remembers another night that changed everything.

This is a collection of stories about women in past, present and future Aotearoa. Michelle Duff’s cast of hungry teenage girls, top detectives who forget to buy milk, frustrated archivists, duplicitous real estate agents, and ‘surplus women’ are all as vivid as wafts of Impulse from a backpack in the 90s. These stories move nimbly from realism to comic overdrive, from the outlandish to the simply true, with characters reappearing from new angles. As they meditate on power and patriarchy, love and bad decisions, these stories remind us of the sweet dreams we used to have and how it feels to wake up from them.

Genres: Short Stories

247 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 2025

About the author

Michelle Duff is a journalist and writer from Te Whanganui-a-Tara. (Wellington) She was the winner of the 2023 Fiction Prize from the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her journalism has appeared in Aotearoa and internationally, including in the Guardian, Stuff, New Zealand Geographic, the Melbourne Age and the Sunday Times.

Reviews

[Jasmin Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked from the very first story in Surplus Women. Michelle is a masterful storyteller who can tell stories through many voices, through different cultural lenses, and yet still sounds very much like herself throughout.

It's her point of view that connects these wildly different women, different stories together. By the last story, I felt seen by Michelle as if somehow through her stories, she was writing to the girl, woman, crone in all of us.

Surplus Women is one of those collections that I know I will read again, when I need a reminder of what it means to be a woman.

[Anne Herbison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book of challenging short stories - fiercely true and often distasteful in subject matter while the writing is assured. Thematically, it focuses on women's often self-destructive behaviour or their confronting relationships and circumstances. By the end of the book, I was reminded of Margaret Atwood's short stories in Bluebeard's Egg. There is some telling satire, and some futuristic elements too.

[Fiona Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michelle Duff writes herstory one woman at a time. These are thought-provoking, heart-breaking, entertaining stories with a whole lot of empathy, some wait-what moments and more than a few va jay jays. Proof that women are the root of all creation and definitely not surplus.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really quite enjoyable. Self-assured writing that carries across multiple stories and perspectives. You can tell Duff is a journalist!

[Ola · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not normally a short stories gal,but damn, I've loved these. Masterful storytelling and character building; the style is the opposite of pretentious, but it's not understated either. the writer certainly knows her craft, and she won't hesitate to use it. and what a range in this collection, yet - with the unifying theme of what it means to be a woman,and a quick witted one at that.
Raw at times, wild at times, silly a times. Can't wait for Michelle's first fiction novel.