Eunoia Literature

Seriously beautiful writing.

Seriously beautiful books.

What we do

Eunoia Literature is an independent publisher of print and digital books. Eunoia means 'beautiful thinking' and is synonymous with quality publishing. We specialise in literary fiction, and high quality non-fiction.

Titles

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The Several Minds of Richard

Much more than a book

To engage with this work is more than reading, it is living inside Richard's mind and trying to unravel the past. It questions what 'self' means with poetic magical realism and narrative. Selves within selves, a book within a book, hidden meanings and metaphors. Was Richard a military dictator, a fraudulent company mogul, or an ordinary man? These questions are posed through a combination of a complex book and accompanying artifacts from Richard's life. This limited edition work is beautifully presented including hand crafted elements. The Several Minds of Richard is unlike anything you've seen before.


 

Days are Like Grass

“I’d defy anyone to discard it without getting to the end. It’s closely observed, and vivid.”

— Michael Gifkins, Literary Agent

A beautiful New Zealand summer.

An ugly past that won’t stay buried.

Paediatric surgeon Claire Bowerman has reluctantly returned to Auckland from London. Calm, rational and in control, she loves delicately repairing her small patients’ wounds. Tragically, wounds sometimes made by the children’s own families.

Yossi wants to marry Claire. He thinks they’ve come to the safest place on earth, worlds away from the violence he knew growing up. He revels in the glorious summer, the idyllic islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

But Roimata, Claire’s fifteen-year-old daughter, is full of questions. Why is Claire so secretive about her past? Why won’t she talk to the man who could solve the mystery that dominated her childhood? All Claire wants to do is run.

This is a novel about a woman caught between the past and the present. And about her need to keep everybody safe. Especially herself.

 

Sue Younger, Author

Sue Younger, Author

A New Zealand Top Ten Bestseller

- Nielsen BookScan Bestsellers list, August 2016

 

Red Dust Over Shanghai

Imagine the flipside of Empire of the Sun.

A German boy grows up in Shanghai’s International Settlement in the shadow of World War II. He is the son of a diplomat and lives a sheltered, privileged life. But his world is changing. It is the time of the Japanese occupation, Chennault’s Flying Tigers, the atom bomb, the Japanese surrender and Mao’s Red Army gathering in the hills.

This memoir tells of the personal loss and change that those crossfire times bring to the boy’s family. It also tells of the love and courage that help him through.

The family flees Red China and in 1952 finds a new home in New Zealand. The boy is fourteen. Sixty years later he dusts off his memories and writes them down.

Tyl Von Randow, Author

Tyl Von Randow, Author

 

Rich Man Road

This is poignant, layered and told with confidence and strength. Ann Glamuzina is an exciting new writer on the scene
— Rae McGregor, Radio New Zealand

Rich Man Road is the story of two women immigrants to New Zealand and their interconnecting stories.

Ann Glamuzina, Author

Ann Glamuzina, Author

Olga - In 1944, twelve-year-old Olga allows an untrue rumour to circulate in her Dalmatian village. That misunderstanding reverberates through the final stages of World War II, the refugee camps of Egypt and finally, a new life in New Zealand.

Pualele - Nine-year-old Pualele arrives in New Zealand in 1978 as part of an illegal family adoption. Life is confusing and frightening as police conduct dawn raids searching for Pacific Islanders who have overstayed their visas. When she is finally called back to Samoa as an adult, she must decide who she is and where she belongs.

 

Sleep Sister

Beautifully written and enthralling
— Jemma Richardson, Flaxroots Productions

When the past won't leave you alone...

On the last day of 1979, sisters Gilly and Marina and their little brother Davy are running wild with all the other children at a remote campsite on a beautiful Northland beach. While the adults party, the children’s games grow more reckless.

Over the next seven years, the Duggan family tries to forget the tragic events of that night. But 1987 is the year that blows everything apart. A death in the family creates seismic shifts in loyalty. Trust is betrayed and new allegiances are formed. As the excesses of the early 80s come to an abrupt halt, the past resurfaces in the most unexpected ways.

This beautiful coming-of-age story revels in its time and place. A sharply intelligent novel that is both compassionate and cutting, Sleep Sister is an evocative and moving debut.

Karen Breen, author

Karen Breen, author

 

Vivienne's Blog

It (Vivienne’s Blog) is an undeniably virtuoso effort, with plenty of skills and substance.
— David Hill, Canvas, Weekend Herald

A work of chilling suspense, this psychological thriller journeys into the mind of a brilliant, witty, but disturbingly deceitful woman who uses an encrypted blog to communicate with her ex-lover, Callum.

Haunting and poetic, the ingenious plot will leave you confounded. 

Books like ‘Vivienne’s Blog’ are the reason I love being a book reviewer . . . every now and then I’ll find a piece of gold. When that golden nugget turns out to be a from a first-time Kiwi novelist it’s all the more special.
— Diane McCarthy, Whakatane Beacon
 

The Bitter Sweet Philosophies

A picture book for grown ups

This picture book for grownups proves that art can be read in many ways. Each image in The Bitter Sweet Philosophies is accompanied by a range of captions. These are by turn witty, poignant and downright weird. This book demonstrates that there are many and varied ways to interpret art and each is as valid as the next. 

 

 

Eunoia Leaf Editions

Eunoia Leaf Editions are wee bit special.

Tiny books beautifully presented, each book is either a single short story, a collection of two or three micro stories, or a short non-fiction or opinion piece. They may be classics or from contemporary authors. Leaf Editions are just the right size to read over a coffee, in the hotel lobby, on public transport, or while passing the time. They are small enough to slip into a pocket or purse and each one bears a distinctive foil cover image, has gorgeous coloured inside covers and are a delight to hold and read.

 

Strandings (Leaf Editions)

Strandings won the fiction prize of the Royal Society of New Zealand Manhire Prize for Creative Writing in 2009. The theme of the competition was ‘the place of human beings in the universe’ and was chosen to coincide with the 2009 International Year of Astronomy. It was described by the judge as “a poignant, fresh, evocative and original story involving a whale, a karesansui garden and a suburban Auckland family”.

Katie Henderson, Author

Katie Henderson, Author

 

Leacock's Lessons

Stephen Leacock’s self-deprecating humour often bears a sharp barb of social commentary. The four stories here are from his ‘Literary Lapses’ short stories. The first deals with Leacock’s character’s inability to deal with simple banking transactions and the second and third are aimed squarely at a stereotype of the rich of the time, as well as the sense of naïveté sometimes associated with the view from outside of the wealthy castles of millionaires. The last story deals with insurance.

Stephen Leacock, Author

Stephen Leacock, Author

 

The Burrow

The Burrow is an unfinished story. The protagonist is an unnamed and undescribed creature whose life appears to revolve around the continuously evolving defensive building works of its home. It is not as well-known as his other pieces but deserves to be given more prominence. It is odd and strangely affecting. Like many of his stories Kafka infuses the work with slanted, dry humour.

Franz Kafka, Author

Franz Kafka, Author

 

The Doll's House

The Doll’s House is the delightful story of the Burnell and the Kelvey children. It centres around the doll’s house recently given to the privileged Burnell children. The story is more than it seems; a commentary on class differences and human similarities, it reflects Katherine Mansfield’s own concerns with the plight of oppression.

Katherine Mansfield, Author

Katherine Mansfield, Author