Hoods Landing

by Laura Vincent

Rita considered the dead. Shut her eyes. Rolled their names around her brain. Stacked each person in order like folded laundry, warm and crisp from the sun. She wondered how her name would sound amongst them.

In the rural reaches of Auckland, the women of the eclectic Gordon family gather for Christmas. They may push each other’s buttons, but know precisely when to offer tea (or a tipple). Rita, the 50-year-old baby of the family, is planning to tell them she has cancer. Drifting between past and present, she considers the lives of women in their community and reckons with what it all means for her future and her family.

Featuring elderly lesbians, twins who aren’t twins, and several dogs named Roger, Hoods Landing is about shoddy pasts, ambiguous futures and the imperfect bonds that tie family together.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Queer, Literary Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2025

About the author

Laura Vincent (Ngāti Māhanga, Ngāpuhi) is an author whose work spans fiction, poetry, and food writing. She has written the food blog hungryandfrozen.com since 2007, and, in 2013, her debut cookbook was published by Penguin Random House. Laura’s poetry has appeared in anthologies published by Āporo Press, Auckland University Press, and Muswell Press. Born in Waiuku, Laura currently lives in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Hoods Landing is her first novel, published by Āporo Press.

Reviews

[Kate McLeod]

My best friend wrote this book, but even if she hadn’t I would give it 5 stars. When I finished it I wanted to weep that it was over and I’d have to leave the world of these characters! I’m excited to reread it over the holiday period because it’s a perfect summer book.

[Lynn Sadler · Rating 5 out of 5]

surely this will win the Ockham?!

[lucy black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family on family on family stacked up like the trifle on the trestle table. This multilayered family saga is a whole little world with its own sayings, cadences and inside jokes. Rita has found out she has cancer and it has got her thinking about her ancestors and her family and how will they react if she dies? She reflects on cancer deaths in her community as she tries to come clean with those who love her.

The story is told from Rita’s point of view but the reader also intimately gets to know her mother and grandmother, her stepmother and her sisters. There are men in the story but they don’t feature much. So many women! And they’re similar but different, they’re all brassy and bolshy, they’re queer in all ways and most of them are all chat.

My mum died of cancer one holiday season, some of the worry and heartache is familiar to me. Rita’s family are very different to mine but also very recognisable, they remind me of family friends and I think most readers will know people like the Gordon’s- annoying, hokey, witty, dorky, slightly mean, insecure, brave, loyal and deeply loving.

This is a brilliant debut, it’s so realised and packaged up, a complete vibe. It’s also the first novel for Āporo Press, so pretty and perfect. I can’t wait to see what Laura Vincent does next and what Āporo Press puts into the world in 2026.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoods Landing is a wonderfully layered family saga. It is a novel that is peopled with really unique, vibrant, characters who feel authentic and three dimensional. I found it hard to believe it is a debut, because the structure and layering is so carefully, and expertly crafted. Vincent balances the seriousness of her subject matter with a sprinkling of humour which feels so true to the way New Zealanders face challenges like this. I wasn't quite sure how it was all going to come together, but the final quarter is spectacular.

[Devon Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

How is this a first novel?? it is so carefully crafted and beautifully written. I saved it for my christmas holiday, and it has been such a treat to read.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like "The Family Stone" but set in Aotearoa. This novel is rich in language, characters, description, and vocab that anchors you to New Zealand in such a way to ensure this book will become a piece of classic Kiwi literature.

A matriarchal, queer, enchanting novel. 10/10 recommend, 4.5 stars (.5 deducted because there are so many characters - which is fine you had to learn to go with the flow and not actually worry about keeping track of them - the important ones grew to stand out anyway)

[ab · Rating 4 out of 5]

so very nostalgic and perfectly regional new zealand. i felt like i knew each character! though, requires a bit of focus at the beginning because there are so many characters to keep track of - the family tree page will get a battering

[Rowena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally write reviews but this book deserves one. I bought this book on a trip to NZ with my best friend and read it while visiting my parents, sister and nieces for Christmas. It was the perfect setting to read such an incredibly moving book about family and togetherness. I felt all the emotions. I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes along with the characters that felt like friends. Thank you for writing this book. It will now be sent on to my mother and my sister to read, it's too good to sit on my shelf!

[Francis Cooke]

I adore big messy families who love each other but also sometimes screw up their communication of that and have large unwieldy holiday gatherings at home with food and music and movies and arguments and moments of grace and understanding, which is why I loved this book very much

[Bianca Dubois · Rating 4 out of 5]

passed the bechdel test with flying colours

[Fiona Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful novel. The characterisation of the family, both as a single unit and as individuals, is warmly portrayed: inside jokes, petty recriminations, traditions and, most of all, an awful lot of love.

Though there are central plotlines I felt that the true story here was that love. The present-day action is interspersed with tales of the community's deaths, and though some of them are sad and infuriating, the humour of the Gordon family's connection to the deceased prevented it from ever feeling maudlin or performative.

I found this book to be the perfect blend of moving and hilarious. I love the Gordons - I can only dream of being a part of a family that supportive and genuinely fond of each other, but their portrayal is so realistic I feel that I know them.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Samantha Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Struggled keeping up with the writing for no other reason than this was written with the Kiwi voice which I am only starting to understand, but what I manage to piece together had me wiping tears of joy and grief every few sentences! So wittily done, so impressive. Strokes of genius in every inside joke the Gordon family generously let me in on

“What happens next to the beautiful princess?”
"She does the best she can to keep being happy. She’s proud of how hard they tried. And maybe she calls up that fairy godmother.”

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely to read a novel that reflects the place I grew up so well ❤️

[JanGlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There seemed to be seem to be a great many characters at the beginning of this book and I had to keep referring to a family tree. I also had a hard job distinguishing between this array of women and at one stage was on the point of abandoning it. I’m glad I didn’t. The story started to centre around only a handful of them and the interaction between them is really well done.Their conversations are so real you feel like you’re in the room with them. They bounce off one another, squabble, come together again, move from trivia to serious stuff in the course of a single sentence. There seems to be minimal plot, sometimes you feel the story is not going anywhere, that you’re just being given everyday life as these women experience it, but there are revelations at the end and you realise you’ve been heading towards them all the time.

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

charming and vivacious with characters that leap off the page and sights that blur under your eyelids and smells that start to surround you. the writing is so detailed and evocative, but more than that it’s so grounded in reality that every image can easily be conjured. the perfect balance of whimsical and weird and strange and beautiful and warm; i often felt overwhelmed at times by the chorus of voices because they were all there, blurring into each other the way voices blur together in a room—what an amazing feat of talent to pull off! i loved the inter-looping of past and present, these chapters marked by a death. so clever, so off-kilter in an endearing way. Perfect Xmas book!

[Venice White · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was such an utter delight, in spite of the frequently heavy subject matter (a multitude of cancer stories) it felt like being embraced by the Gordon family, which is filled with a dazzling array of characters across four generations. set in the lead up to Christmas in an unnamed small town maybe an hour or two drive south of Auckland, the family has come together for the holiday season and to unknowingly bear witness to news of Rita's diagnosis. combined with the plethora of stories of other people from the village I did often have to flick back to the family tree at the beginning for a while, until I clocked how much I was being reminded of the four March sisters and then it fell into place. there were exquisitely written lines and observations throughout and the characters were deftly crafted (I easily fell in love with Rita and Stevie, Judy can put a sock in it but I know just what it is to be in the room with her) and I was surprised in the best way with every twist in the story. it felt like the perfect story to read right now, what with two family members having recently (ish...) returned to the country and the teasing and the accents and the reassimilation – it's nice we all have the same life to an extent. I'd even go to a church service if Avery was leading the charge. but most of all I love love love the notion that we are all living in the best way we know how and the reminder of how differently love is experienced but just because it doesn't follow convention it doesn't mean the relationships have any less depth. you can find home in so many surprising ways.

[Zachary Ngow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

First of all, the cover image is perfect.

The third chapter is where I became drawn in, with the feeling Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood (maybe because of the sleepy sort of atmosphere and long list of characters) and strong images (from the ominous: an indoor wasp nest and cloud of herbicide to festive: balloons and replenishing German shepherds). As the book went on the tone (atleast in my interpretation) changed from sinister to warm, with the interspersed chapters recollective rather than threatening, perhaps as Rita came to terms with her situation.

Interactions between family members felt very genuine (except an argument later on which I found a bit soapy) and reminded me of my strange family members (of which a branch can be traced to Waiuku). I think this is the strongest/my favourite part. I could listen to their conversations endlessly (with a cup of tea).

It felt like a play, and would be easily adapted to one, even a radioplay (may need a voice actor who can do dog noises). If it is a play they should serve the audience some of the meals (you can tell it was written by a food writer)!

Why not have a celebration of life, not a funeral... even if the balloons are deflated.

[Olivia Adrianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me, I love a good family drama.

I think this genuinely was one of the most interesting books I've read, as the characters themselves were individual. I did look up a bit on the author and it makes sense that they also write plays, because the character index at the start and the fiesty dialogue with introspective observations reminded me of a show. I felt like I was watching a family drama in my head, with Rita being my natural favourite as their voice led me through the start of the book.

I did not know much about New Zealand to begin with, but this definitely provided an interesting perspective.

The setting also taking place during Christmas really tied it all, and well, didn't! Love the pub owners.

[MacKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this book at a little book shop in Wanaka during our NZ trip - as thought it would be good to read a book by a kiwi author while traveling through NZ! A really sweet novel about family, and particularly, female relationships within a family.

For a first novel, this is incredibly well written and once you figure out who is who in the family, the personalities of each character really shine through. 4 ⭐️ from me! 📖

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is brilliant. I know I'm going to re-read this to see how it all comes together. Each character is so well done. Highly recommend.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! The story, the writing, the language. I hope Rita will be okay. Will there be a sequel? I want to spend more time with these lovely characters.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Laura Vincent's writing. Her food blog Hungry and Frozen has the most delicious descriptions of food I've ever read. Her first novel Hoods Landing is a gorgeous ode to New Zealand life.

[Maggie Walch · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a beautiful account of family and small town New Zealand life. Laura has some absolutely cracking one-liners, full of meaning and depth and wit. The characters felt so human and relatable, I was fascinated by the mundanity of their lives, and how they coexisted and revolved around the rest of the family. My pick for the Ockham!!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful but bittersweet story of love and family. highly recommend

[Awhi Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ode to growing up in rural New Zealand that felt so real and natural. Explored what makes growing up in small communities so wonderful and so hard, but not for the reasons usually discussed. The way that time passes and with it illness and death comes inevitably in a way that feels personal but isn’t. There were so many lines that made me pause and sit with them, and I think they’ll continue to sit with me for a long time. Will hold a special place in my heart I think, Chapter 21 in particular.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read eventually, it did take til around halfway through before the pace picked up and the characters became familiar and interesting. It felt like being in the lounge with a very easily imaginable family of women, a family of warmth and song. I’ve no experience with a family like this but this book made the experience immersive. I enjoyed reading it.

[Hannah Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters were so endearing I want to read more about all of them! Amazing work Laura (bartending, book writing, badass - she can do it all!) 🫶

[Helen Cummings · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intense story that grew and unfolded slowly as I read. It took me a while to get to grips with it due to the volume of inter related characters and the significance of the interwoven death notice obituaries but once I was past the first third I really enjoyed the Gordon family and the rural Kiwi location which reminded me of my childhood memories.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great language, no real action happening but lots of great conversations, a story of relationships within a big mixed family. Set in New Zealand.

Themes of family, love, death, cancer (is that a theme?), LGBTQ

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had really high hopes for this book — a multi-generational story with multiple sapphic characters is exactly my sort of book. Unfortunately, ‘Hoods Landing’ just didn’t click for me. While it was easy to pick up and read, it was equally easy (if not actually easier) to put down and not think about after doing so.

At first, this book was engaging, but my interest soon waned as I felt the narrative had no drive behind it or any stakes. I just knew that no matter what happened these characters would be unchanged and would all act (both with one another and as individuals) in the exact same way as they did at the start of the book. Any conflict in the story, while on the face of it should feel significant, just felt unimportant when reading. At the start, when the characters were first introduced, the book was quite fun, but then nothing new was done with them in the remaining pages.

I think the use of out-of-order flashbacks may have made this worse as well, because we got to see the characters multiple decades prior to when the present narrative is taking place. They are almost the exact same in every flashback as they are in the present. So not only do the characters remain unchanged over the course of the “present day” holiday season that the book is focused around, but they were unchanged throughout their life.

Every other chapter is also about a member of the community who has died of cancer, some of which also include the main characters of the present timeline. These chapters should have been moving and while I found a few to be so, they overall just felt like yet another thing trying to drag out this book without adding much. Normally I love to see glimpses into the wider community around the main characters so it was abnormal for me to feel so disconnected to these chapters.

While I enjoyed the writing on a sentence-by-sentence level, I would get to the end of a paragraph and couldn’t see what its purpose was. Also, the writing is constructed out of blocks of almost pure dialogue combined with paragraphs of description without any speech. This felt almost clunky to read and meant that the book didn’t flow very well, in my opinion. Also, while the dialogue between the characters was fun, it just didn’t feel like it meant anything. The descriptions are written in a casual yet eloquent way, but I just didn’t feel they had purpose for the book other than each individual sentence being fun to read. My qualm with this book is not a lack of plot (I love character-driven novels), it is that this book didn’t feel driven by either plot or character, or at least I didn't feel invested in either.

I hope Vincent goes on to write another fiction book in the future as she undoubtedly has skill when it comes to writing description or constructing dialogue filled with good-natured banter. As I mentioned above, I loved each sentence as an individual thing, but it just didn’t build into an interesting story for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.