Politics 101

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

Steph, Henry’s lover, identifies with the jilted wife in a Katherine Mansfield story and stages a psychotic episode at Henry’s 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.

'It’s a fantastic story, there’s a lot going on and it’s got a very lively pace to the writing.'
Diane Pettis, Nine to Noon, Radio New Zealand

Anna Smith lives in Lyttelton, New Zealand’s major haven for lost artists, and teaches English at the University of Canterbury. This is her first novel. When she is not hanging out with Beauty, her beloved hound-dog, she is plotting her second novel.