This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman

This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman

Auckland, October 1955. If young Paddy Black sings to himself he can almost see himself back home in Belfast. Yet, less than two years after sailing across the globe in search of a better life, here he stands in a prison cell awaiting trial for murder. He pulled a knife at the jukebox that night, but should his actions lead him to the gallows? As his desperate mother waits on, Paddy must face a judge and jury unlikely to favour an outsider, as a wave of moral panic sweeps the island nation.

Fiona Kidman's powerful novel explores the controversial topic of the death penalty with characteristic empathy and a probing eye for injustice.

'Kidman's prose is precise, detailed, lyric. . The fluencies and hard-won command of a good writer bring out their own truth' Irish Times

'Magnetic . . . The ending of a life involves decisions made by many, Kidman reminds us, with opportunities for compassion that are regularly missed until it’s too late' New York Times

'Kidman deftly sketches the personalities behind the headline story, along with the ambiguities and mitigating circumstances surrounding them . . . In the emotional catharsis experienced by the imprisoned Paddy Black, she demonstrates how redemption may be grasped even at the final hour of the darkest day' Wall Street Journal

'It's an amazing novel, this. It's compelling' Val McDermid

'Perfectly captures the life of a young immigrant while taking a sharp look at New Zealand’s social history . . . Moving, compelling and ultimately tragic' Liz Nugent

'A haunting read. . . Blends events as they unfold, painting the bigger historical and social picture but it is in the sensitive characterisation of Paddy and his desperate mother, Kathleen, that Kidman excels' Jess Kidd, author of Himself

'Stays with you long after you’ve read it . . . It brings home what the death penalty really means for someone who wasn’t bad, just young and misguided' Lesley Pearse

'Powerfully explores the ways that young men and women were demonised by politicians . . . a really moving book' @SamiraAhmed

'An essential read as a study of wrong choices, ambiguous motives, infinitely nuanced personalities and a grim complex tragedy of a loner . . . A tremendous novel' Arts Council of Northern Ireland

'Utterly gripping and tense . . . This is an excoriating repudiation of the death penalty not because it is emotional but because it is cool, analytical, evidence based and well reasoned' NB

'A simple riveting and compulsive page-turner of a read from beginning to end' Midwest Book Review

'A meticulously researched novel which holds up a dark part of our history to the light . . . [Kidman] expertly brings readers into the lives of all those involved' NZ Herald

'Like Hilary Mantel, she writes with acute observation and attention to detail, getting inside the skin of her characters to establish a deeper truth about their thoughts and feelings than any official record can’ New Zealand Books

‘Believable, insightful . . . an important book’ Australian Women’s Weekly

‘A tale about violent acts that is infused with humanity and compassion’ New Zealand Listener

'What’s remarkable . . . is how Kidman brings forth issues like specimens under a strong light, showing them in all their complexity, with all their shadows and brilliance, without ever preaching or becoming polemical' Crime Fiction Lover

'Richly textured with an elegant structure and flow; a harrowing tale full of humanity' Ngaio Marsh Awards

'An intensely human and empathetic story' The Ockham Book Awards 

Praise for Fiona Kidman:

'Kidman, a poet, is a beautiful writer' The Times

‘A masterful storyteller’ The Lady

‘A truly gifted writer' Trip Fiction

Dame Fiona Kidman OBE has written more than 25 works, spanning novels, poetry, nonfiction, and a drama. She is regarded as one of New Zealand's most renowned authors.