The Telling Time

WINNER of the 2020 FIRST PAGES PRIZE: — New York Times bestselling author, Sebastian Faulks, was "transported to an unfamiliar setting and wanted to go on reading".
WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE . . . An exiled immigrant. A determined daughter. A secret that demands to be told . . . but are the stakes set too high?
Gabrijela yearns to escape the confines of post-war Croatia and her tiny fishing community but never imagines her choices will see her exiled to New Zealand to housekeep for an enigmatic man, clutching a secret she dare not reveal.
Thirty years on, her daughter, Luisa, hell-bent on unpicking the family’s past, departs on her own covert quest to visit her estranged relatives. But not all decisions are equal, and amid Yugoslavia’s brewing civil unrest Luisa's backpacking journey confronts her with culture shocks and dark encounters of her own.
Can one life-changing moment right the wrongs of the past? The Telling Time is P.J. McKay’s award-winning debut novel which spent 10 weeks on the top ten fiction list. If you love vividly drawn historical novel’s, full of heart and with characters you won’t want to leave behind, then you’ll love this page-turning family saga.
Purchase your copy today to unlock Gabrijela’s secret!
Editorial Reviews:
Both intimate and epic in scale, this is an absolute belter. If there's any justice, then the author's debut novel should find a home in book clubs the world over. Sharon Stephenson, Woman Magazine
TRANSPORTING READ PROVES COMPELLING: With vivid senses of place and time this is one of those rare novels one can hardly put down. Jessie Neilson, Otago Daily Times
A STUNNING DEBUT: Dealing with serious themes, a novel that is immensely readable, and never too heavy. Amy McDaid, author Fake Baby