Eating Peacocks

by Barbara Else

Delia wakes up in hospital to find herself paralysed and with no memory of what has happened. As she struggles back to health she has to come to terms not only with her immediate past but also with the impact of events in her early childhood.

166 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Barbara Else is a playwright and fiction writer, and has also worked as a literary agent, editor and fiction consultant. Else won the Victoria University Writer’s Fellowship in 1999, and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature in 2005.

Reviews

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This powerfully written novella contained a little bit of everything - mystery, some dark humour, excellent writing & a heroine trying to make sense of why she is badly injured & in a hospital bed in Wellington with no memory of preceding events or even who she is.

We join Delia on her fragmented journey as her memory starts to slowly return. Normally I like a linear tale, but this feels like an authentic way that memory would come back - & it confuses Delia nearly as much as it did this reader! I was on the edge of my seat for most of the read.

Many years ago I read & loved Else's novel The Warrior Queen. I still own a copy & will do a reread as soon as possible.

Else deserves to be better known outside of New Zealand.

[Rebecca Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written with some gorgeous metaphors and the suspense nicely paced.