The Infinite Air (42 page)
Authors: Fiona Kidman
Fiona Kidman has published over 25 books, including novels, poetry, non-fiction and a play. She has worked as a librarian, radio producer and critic, and as a scriptwriter for radio, television and film.
The New Zealand Listener
wrote: ‘In her craft and her storytelling and in her compassionate gutsy tough expression of female experience, she is the best we have.’
She has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships; in more recent years
The Captive Wife
was runner-up for the Deutz Medal for Fiction and was joint-winner of the Readers’ Choice Award in the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Awards, and her short story collection
The Trouble with Fire
was shortlisted for both the NZ Post Book Awards and the Frank O’Connor Award.
She was created a Dame (DNZM) in 1998 in recognition of her contribution to literature, and more recently a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour. ‘We cannot talk about writing in New Zealand without acknowledging her,’ wrote
New Zealand Books
. ‘Kidman’s accessible prose and the way she shows (mainly) women grappling to escape from restricting social pressures has guaranteed her a permanent place in our fiction.’
A VINTAGE BOOK published by Random House New Zealand, 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand
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First published 2013
© 2013 Fiona Kidman
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
ISBN 978 1 86979 792 8
eISBN 978 1 86979 793 5
This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Text and cover design: Megan van Staden
Cover illustration: Susan Fox/Trevillion Images
Printed in New Zealand by Printlink
This publication is printed on paper pulp sourced from sustainably grown and managed forests, using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleaching, and printed with 100% vegetable-based inks.