Three Pretty Widows

A delicately layered, humorous novel, deliciously written, ranging over time and place. In the aftermath of Barnaby Rivers' death, complictions arise for three beautiful women: Bella, Ruth and wicked old Jocasta. Now nothing can go on in the old way. Crisis looms. In her funniest novel yet, Barbara Else contrasts attitudes to beauty, motherhood . . . and men. Looking down on it all is Barnaby himself, not sure if he's an angel or ghost.

Barbara Else is the author of numerous bestselling adult novels and books for children, and has edited a number of collections of stories for children, as well as an anthology in which top New Zealand writers talk about grandparenthood. With her husband, writer Chris Else, Barbara runs TFS, a Wellington-based literary agency and assessment service. See more at www.elseware.co.nz or follow her blog at www.TalesofFontania.com. The New Zealand Herald reviewer, commenting on the 'quieter, deeper' humour in Barbra's writing, said it is 'found in her dark, sardonic point of skew, in her quirky, wry vignettes that are a fond satire of modern middle class life and those who live it ...' Her first novel, The Warrior Queen, was shortlisted for the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Her children's fiction has won a host of awards, including a 2012 White Raven Award and the 2012 NZ IBBY for The Travelling Restaurant. She was the Victoria University of Wellington Writer in Residence for 1999, received a Creative New Zealand Scholarship in Letters in 2004, and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature in 2005.