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the long cloud: a novel
Not yet published
Expected 15 Sep 26i had been a male model since i moved to london and initially i was making lots of money and then suddenly i wasn’t making any.
Xander is ageing out. A former high school jock turned model, he’s spent a decade in London riding a carousel of validation and success. Now the ride is slowing down.
When his much-more-successful actor girlfriend, Tessa K, buys him a plane ticket home to New Zealand for the first time in ten years, Xander returns as a stranger. The family farm is for sale. His mother is overbearing. His high school ex wants to reconnect. And his life is unravelling.
Then he meets someone younger, someone vibrant and unburdened, who makes him fall back in love with the small town he fled. But is she the cure for his problems or just another symptom of how empty his life has become?
In the long cloud, newcomer Hector Mackenzie captures the anxious rhythm of life in the 20s — a tender, often funny meditation on masculinity, beauty, and mortality that proves you might be able to go home, but you can never truly go back.
Xander is ageing out. A former high school jock turned model, he’s spent a decade in London riding a carousel of validation and success. Now the ride is slowing down.
When his much-more-successful actor girlfriend, Tessa K, buys him a plane ticket home to New Zealand for the first time in ten years, Xander returns as a stranger. The family farm is for sale. His mother is overbearing. His high school ex wants to reconnect. And his life is unravelling.
Then he meets someone younger, someone vibrant and unburdened, who makes him fall back in love with the small town he fled. But is she the cure for his problems or just another symptom of how empty his life has become?
In the long cloud, newcomer Hector Mackenzie captures the anxious rhythm of life in the 20s — a tender, often funny meditation on masculinity, beauty, and mortality that proves you might be able to go home, but you can never truly go back.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 15, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 4, 2026
This book consumed me and I need everyone to read it!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
IMMEDIATE favourites add. LOVED!!!
sparse, funny, modern. opens with somewhat of a nihilistic "less than zero" vibe until it doesn't. extremely relatable musings on insecurity, body image, masculinity, self-perception, indecision. adore the writing style as a diehard lower case writer. an incredible debut
sparse, funny, modern. opens with somewhat of a nihilistic "less than zero" vibe until it doesn't. extremely relatable musings on insecurity, body image, masculinity, self-perception, indecision. adore the writing style as a diehard lower case writer. an incredible debut
Review of advance copy received from Author
This is my favourite book of all time and that’s all there is to say about it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews