LATEST SALES & OFFERS: PROMOTIONS
Fiona Farrell is one of New Zealand's leading writers. Born in Oamaru and educated at the universities of Otago and Toronto, she has published volumes of poetry, collections of short stories, non-fiction works, and many novels. Her first novel, The Skinny Louie Book, won the 1993 New Zealand Book Award for fiction. Other novels, poetry and non-fiction books have been shortlisted for the Montana and New Zealand Post Book Awards with four novels also nominated for the International Dublin IMPAC Award. In 2007 she received the Prime Minister's Award for Fiction, and in 2012 was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature. The Broken Book, a book of essays relating to the Christchurch earthquakes, was shortlisted for the non-fiction award in the 2012 Book Awards and critically greeted as the 'first major artwork' to emerge from the event. The Villa at the Edge of the Empire was also shortlisted for this award in 2016. Her work, which The New Zealand Herald has praised for its 'richness - of both theme and language', has been published around the world, including in the US, France and the UK. Beryl Fletcher praised Farrell for having '. . . the rare ability of turning the mundane events of domestic life into profound human experiences. Her writing is poetic, moving and literary.'
During WW II, Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki was the only known member of the Japanese Navy's high command to keep a diary. The ever-prolific Hoyt (Hirohito, 1992, etc.) now draws on this unusually candid journal (begun in October 1941) to offer an absorbing appreciation of how the fate of a single honorable officer, swept up in a terrible conflict over which he had little control, mirrored that of his service and country. As chief of staff to Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Ugaki helped plan the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, an enterprise neither man supported wholeheartedly. Loyal to a fault, he rejoiced, albeit apprehensively, in Japan's early victories throughout East Asia. Then came setbacks at Midway, Guadalcanal, and elsewhere, which Ugaki knew could not easily be made up for. When US interceptors ambushed and killed Yamamoto, Ugaki was traveling in a second plane that also was shot down - but the warrior survived, recuperated, and eventually returned to sea. His flagship was shot out from under him, however, during the battle of Leyte Gulf. Back in Japan by the fall of 1944, Ugaki was chosen to direct naval efforts to provide the home islands with air defense. Special attack units - a euphemism for squadrons sent on suicide missions - were integral to this program. But while the kamikazes took a significant toll on American vessels, there was no stopping the Allies. When the end came after the two atom bombings, Ugaki defied his beloved emperor (who had instructed the Japanese military to lay clown its arms) to keep faith with the hundreds of young men he had sent to their deaths. Shortly after the surrender broadcast, Ugaki flew from Kyushu toward Okinawa, where US night fighters on routine patrol shot him out of the sky before he could damage Allied ships. An insider's intriguing perspectives on an ill-starred belligerency, plus savvy commentary and continuity from a veteran military historian. (Kirkus Reviews)
