The Story of a New Zealand Writer

Jane Mander grew up in the kauri milling settlements of the north and her desire to depict life in those places produced a classic novel, The Story of a New Zealand River.

Mander uses this and her other five novels to work through ideas about male/female relationships. The dilemmas of Alice, her daugher Asia and lover David Bruce continue to echo in our culture, although they shocked contemporary critics: ‘Miss Mander’s chief fault is her obsession with sex; a little more reticence would do her no harm.’ – Alan Mulgan

Who was Jane Mander? Why did she write The Story of a New Zealand River? Many people know the book, but few know anything of the writer. Rae McGregor has drawn a rich absorbing portrair of Mander – from her early years in the north, to Sydney socialist, New York intellectual, London writer, and home again as Auckland critic and literary personality.