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Catherine Chidgey

Photo © Helen Mayall

Catherine Chidgey

Catherine Chidgey’s novels have been published to international acclaim. Her first, In a Fishbone Church, won Best First Book at the NZ Book Awards and at the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (South East Asia and South Pacific). In the UK it won the Betty Trask Award and was longlisted for the Orange Prize. Her second, Golden Deeds, was a Notable Book of the Year in the New York Times and a Best Book in the LA Times. Catherine has won the Prize in Modern Letters, the Katherine Mansfield Award, the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship and the Janet Frame Fiction Prize. She lives in Ngāruawāhia, NZ, and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Waikato. Her novel Remote Sympathy was shortlisted for the DUBLIN Literary Award and longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her novels The Wish Child and The Axeman’s Carnival both won the Acorn Prize for Fiction, NZ's most prestigious literary award.

All Catherine Chidgey's books

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Latest reviews

  •  “An arresting point of view guides readers of Catherine Chidgey’s The Axeman’s Carnival, which is chattily narrated by a pet magpie called Tama. . . It makes for a gamesome against-the-odds tale.”

    — Wall Street Journal, Aug 10 2024
  • “A gorgeous, sublime exploration of the natural world and the powerful, perhaps unbreakable bonds that can exist between its human and nonhuman inhabitants. . . Chidgey’s novel is an extraordinary achievement: Like Tama, it soars.”

    — Washington Post, Aug 7 2024
  • ★ “The magpie narrator offers more nuance and understanding to human relations than do most people. Chidgey (Pet) is a skilled storyteller and doesn’t stop surprising with this gorgeously haunting work. Endlessly faceted.”

    — Library Journal, Aug 1 2024
  • “While Tama is exposed more to this new world, his father’s warning about humans comes to surface, and the animal and human worlds bleed into each other with all their darkness and hope.”

    — The National, Jul 30 2024
  •  “The Axeman’s Carnival is a stunning and captivating story about the pressures of farming life and the meaning of family, and Chidgey is at the absolute top of her game.”

    — Booklist, Jul 3 2024
  • “Thrilling, beautifully rendered and pitch perfect.”

    — New Zealand Newsroom, Jun 26 2024
  • “Told in the voice of a magpie, with humor and wisdom, this unflinching portrait of nature picks at the thin veil between the elemental violence and drama of both human and animal worlds.”

    — Shelf Awareness, Jun 18 2024
  • “Chidgey elegantly weaves together social commentary, magic realism, folklore and myth, and her treatment of serious themes is deft.”
    — Irish Times, Apr 26 2024
  • “Amazon reviews claim that the final chapters had them shook, so buckle up!”
    — Cosmopolitan, Apr 24 2024
  • "A powerful portrayal of humanity and the natural world seen through the eyes of a fledgling chick.

    — Financial Times, Apr 5 2024
  • “Two uncanny creatures, not quite wild and not quite tame, circling one another in an increasingly claustrophobic house. Both waiting for the axe to drop.”

    — The Conversation US, Mar 25 2024
  • “It is a fascinating lead-in to a fascinating tale.”
    — The Charlotte News, Feb 8 2024
  • “This brilliant psychological thriller ratchets up the tension to an elegantly chilling denouement.”

    — The Daily Mail, Jan 25 2024
  • “Compelling, remarkable and beautifully written, it had me wondering about my own recollections from my '80s schooldays.”

    — Radio New Zealand, Dec 29 2023
  • "Very nearly the novel of the year...the crazy energy of a writer on fire flickered on every page."

    — New Zealand Newsroom, Dec 14 2023
  • “This sharp-edged, deliciously dark novel explores just what a group of besotted 12-year-olds might do for a teacher they love.”
    — Slate, Dec 5 2023
  • “In this suspenseful bildungsroman, Justine, a Catholic schoolgirl living in New Zealand...revisits the mysteries of her youth.”
    — The New Yorker, Oct 23 2023
  • “Full of delicious mystery and thrill, Pet showcases manipulation and the unthinkable things people will do when their life and reputation are on the line.”
    — Chicago Review of Books, Aug 23 2023
  • “A lingering, haunting book...a landmark in the small but potent canon of contemporary novels about unusual girls reckoning with themselves and the world around them.”
    — The New York Times, Aug 7 2023
  • “As satisfying a narrative as Pet is, lingering uncertainty is the source of its real power, enabling it to maintain its hold over the imagination long after the final page has been turned.”
    — The Guardian, Jul 10 2023

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