One upside to the wet summer we’re having this year is a chance to dive into some great new books.

Graphic Designer

Ken Khun

This month we have a compelling New Zealand memoir about foraging and living off the land, a reimagining of David Copperfield set in Southern Appalachia, and a colourful history of the Roman roads in Britain.

Demon Copperhead

Barbara

Kingsolver

This was released at the end of 2022 but has remained top of bestseller lists for good reason. Kingsolver is perhaps bestknown for The Poisonwood Bible, but her quieter, lesser-known books are where she shines. The excellent bookseller at new indie bookstore Lamplight in Parnell (do visit if you get a chance), warned me this wasn’t a ‘beach read’ – and she’s right. It follows a young boy trying to survive amidst the ruins of the opioid crisis in rural America, in the narrative style of Dickens or Copperfield – hardhitting but compulsive reading because Kingsolver understands character so well. Voted one of the best books of 2022 by The Washington Post and The New York Times, this is Kingsolver back at her best.

Social Media

Ashlee Lala

Contributors

Manish Kumar Arora, Paris Mitchell Temple, Aimée Ralfini, Jackie O’Fee, Nadia Klaassen, Melanie Dower

A Foragers Life

Helen

Lehndorf

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Published by Verve Magazine Ltd

13 Westmoreland Street West, Grey Lynn, Auckland 1021

THE ROAD Christopher Hadley

Receiving rave reviews in the UK and an early contender for best history book of the year, The Road is the latest book from Hadley, journalist and author of the acclaimed Hollow Places. Here he’s searching for an elusive Roman road that sprang from one of the busiest hubs in Roman Britain. But this is no dry history book – Hadley has a poetic eye as he surveys the archeology, history, landscape, hauntings and more on his epic journey, revealing secrets from its two-thousand-year history.

GST

90 378 074

ISSN 2253-1300 (print)

ISSN 2253-1319 (online)

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Cover Image

Karen Walker x Lexus

Model:Georgia at 62 Management

Lehndorf writes beautifully and with a lot of heart while detailing her rural childhood spent foraging and living off the land in Taranaki, and in later years the burgeoning punk scene in 80s rural New Zealand. On her OE in the UK, she searches for her European heritage while foraging for wild food around London and goes on a quest to find a hag stone, before returning to New Zealand and settling in Palmerston North. This memoir has it all – love, loss, grief, creativity, motherhood and community – with a quiet through-thread on the transformative power of plants and caring deeply for our environment. I took long walks after this, longing to identify the many plants she mentions in the book. Luckily, each chapter is bookended with recipes using local New Zealand plants and surrounds –from meadowsweet granita to herbal tinctures.

VERVE MAGAZINE is published monthly (except in January) and has an estimated readership of 60,000. It is a free lifestyle magazine delivered to selected homes, cafés and businesses in Parnell, Newmarket, Remuera, Meadowbank, Epsom, Mission Bay, Kohimarama, Herne Bay, Takapuna and Devonport. Verve Magazine is placed in magazine stands for free collection from locations in Parnell, Newmarket, Remuera, Epsom, Mission Bay, St. Heliers, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Herne Bay, Auckland City, Takapuna, Devonport, Stonefields, Milford and Mairangi Bay. Visit ververmagazine.co.nz for exact locations these magazine stands. Verve is also available from all popular cafés in its main distribution areas as well as in ebook format. Visit vervemagazine.co.nz to sign up for your free monthly ebook. Verve is printed by Ovato. It is distributed by Ovato, Admail and Mailchimp. vervemagazine.co.nz

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