Author(s): Anna Smith

NZ Fiction

Meg, Henry, Steph and Diana are all students in Wellington in the 1970s. Thrown together in the broad sphere of leftist politics, they find falling in and out of love just as mesmerising as it is for the middle classes they despise.

While Henry is busy trying to run a Youth Summit, Meg suppresses her bourgeois passion for handcrafts and learns to go on demonstrations.

Steph, HenryÃÂÃÂÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs lover, identifies with the jilted wife in a Katherine Mansfield story and stages a psychotic episode at HenryÃÂÃÂÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Summit.

Meanwhile, the radical Diana spends her time running military action training weekends for the revolution.

Raids on government departments, street theatre, theft from friends and cruel betrayals are all part of the mix.

In this first novel, Anna Smith brings these characters to life with wit and compassion. Her lively prose and sharp eye for detail create a compelling mix of dark humour and pathos as our heroes struggle to fight for the revolution and find their place in a society that never quite arrives. First published May 2006.