A captivating exploration of a Pakeha family's history in colonial New Zealand through intimate letters and personal reflections.In Dear Oliver, Peter Wells unearths a treasure trove of family letters, offering a poignant glimpse into the lives of ordinary people navigating extraordinary times. From the war against Te Kooti to the devastating Napier earthquake, Wells traces his ancestors' journey from servant status to middle-class comforts, revealing secr...

A prize-winning memoir, a tender evocation of a world, a place and a time. Born in 1950 to sporting parents and sharing his brother's homosexuality, Peter Wells decided at the age of eleven that his family could not 'afford' two homosexual sons. The problems this led to complicated his youth but possibly gave him the creative fuel that would go on to illuminate his books and films. Through the difficulties and strains explored in this 'mosaic of a memoir' come many other ...

Shortlisted for the NZ Post Award this fascinating, innovative biography is of a true original and significant figure in NZ's early colonisation. "I love doubters: of a truly honest doubter I have great hope." Printer, botanist and missionary, William Colenso was a nineteenth-century maverick, a true original. He protested at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, arguing that Maori did not fully understand its implications. He became a troubled conscience during the whit...

A moving short story about a strong bond - both comradely and erotic - formed between soldiers during World War II. This is a story rarely told, of a certain kind of relationship often forged during wartime. Of love between men, of unexpected passion. Beautifully written by an award-winning writer, sensitively explored, it is a story that does not have to end in tragedy and yet is poignant and profound.

Poignant, lyrical and bitter-sweet, this novella is about coming to terms with your own sexuality and finding love. 'I am still not sure what homo means, apart from being in Truth and having to commit suicide in the bath . . .' Lemmy and Jamie. Jamie and Lenny. Two friends. Together. At a time of need.

The late J. Krishnamurti, a mystical giant of the 20th century, is perhaps best known for his instruction that each of us must discover our own path to truth. As Peter Wells explains it, "You have to find the truth within yourself. There is no real power other than the one within the self, within the soul."

Part history, part biography, part social commentary, this fascinating book is about infamous events that shook New Zealand to its core. In 1865, Rev Carl Sylvius Volkner was hanged, his head cut off, his eyes eaten and his blood drunk from his church chalice. One name – Kereopa Te Rau (Kaiwhatu: The Eye-eater) – became synonymous with the murder. In 1871 he was captured, tried and sentenced to death. But then something remarkable happened. Sister Aubert and William Colens...

An achingly insightful coming-of-age novel about discovering sexuality and selfhood. Hungry Creek runs out over mudflats and curves around to a tidal beach. Hungry Creek is where everything is put that nobody wants: a dump, a zoo, a loony bin. It is also a magical place. 'I'm two bits of mismatched bikini. M doesn't seem to belong to E . . .' Jamie is eleven, on the threshold of discovery. But he can't find the map that will explain where he fits in or who he is. ...

Written by Barry Hymer and Peter Wells, Chess Improvement: It's all in the mindset is an engaging and instructive guide that sets out how the application of growth mindset principles can accelerate chess improvement.With Tim Kett and insights from Michael Adams, David Howell, Harriet Hunt, Gawain Jones, Luke McShane, Matthew Sadler and Nigel Short.Foreword by Henrik Carlsen, father of world champion Magnus Carlsen.Twenty-first-century knowledge about skills...

Written by Barry Hymer and Peter Wells, Chess Improvement: It's all in the mindset is an engaging and instructive guide that sets out how the application of growth mindset principles can accelerate chess improvement.With Tim Kett and insights from Michael Adams, David Howell, Harriet Hunt, Gawain Jones, Luke McShane, Matthew Sadler and Nigel Short.Foreword by Henrik Carlsen, father of world champion Magnus Carlsen.Twenty-first-century knowledge about skills...

Complete with never-before-revealed details about the sex, violence, and drugs in her life, this biography reveals the incredibly turbulent life of Motown artist Mary Wells. Based in part on four hours of previously unreleased and unpublicized deathbed interviews with Wells, this account delves deeply into her rapid rise and long fall as a recording artist, her spectacular romantic and family life, the violent incidents in which she was a participant, and her abuse of drugs. From tumultuou...

A rich and surprising look at the robust European culture that thrived after the collapse of Rome.The barbarians who destroyed the glory that was Rome demolished civilization along with it, and for the next four centuries the peasants and artisans of Europe barely held on. Random violence, mass migration, disease, and starvation were the only ways of life. This is the picture of the Dark Ages that most historians promote. But archaeology tells a different story. Peter Wells, one of...