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  • Published: 19 November 2014
  • ISBN: 9781925095371
  • Imprint: Text
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $29.99

Paint Your Wife



Long ago, when the men were away at the war, Alma began painting the women of the town. They sat for him in lieu of payment for his work catching rats. Alice, his favourite, returned his attentions, and when her husband, George, came home from the war, he set out to prove his love and reclaim his wife by moving a hill—wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow—for her.
Now, decades later, Alma's 'in lieu of' payment is revived, and the townspeople, looking to escape various corners of despair, turn to drawing classes. For when you draw, the only thing that matters is what lies before you.
Paint Your Wife is a colourful, sensual novel, brimming with rich stories and even richer characters.

  • Published: 19 November 2014
  • ISBN: 9781925095371
  • Imprint: Text
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $29.99

About the author

Lloyd Jones

Lloyd Jones is one of New Zealand's best known contemporary writers. He has published essays and children's books, his distinctive works including the novels The Book of Fame, winner of numerous literary awards, Biografi, a New York Times Notable Book, Choo Woo, Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance, Paint Your Wife, Hand Me Down World, The Cage, The Fish, and the phenomenally successful Mister Pip, winner of the 2007 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Montana Medal for Fiction and the Kiriyama Writers' Prize. Mister Pip was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2007.

Praise for Paint Your Wife

'A gentle, whimsical book...Jones's writing is easy and sophisticated, reminding me of Steinbeck at his humorous best...the whole fanciful sprawl is a delight.' Age

PRH, PRH