| Parrot Heaven | Jessica Howland Kany | Rakiura Books | 2026 | Paperback | eBook available | 291 Pages | ISBN: 9780473766061 |
Also received: | A Runners Guide to Rakiura | Jessica Howland Kany | Quentin Wilson Publishing | 2025 | Paperback | 414 Pages | ISBN: 9780995143852 | A Runner’s Guide to Rakiura is playful, funny, and romantic, and like any good treasure hunt, there will be reckonings, redemptions, and yes… there will be treasure.
The Author: Jessica Howland Kany has called Rakiura/Stewart Island home for over twenty years. On the island she worked at the post office/flight centre, the Pub and as “desk crew” for her fisherman husband. Other hats: editor of the Stewart Island News, rat trapper and librarian. Jess is a runner, penguin fan and artichoke enthusiast. Past endeavours include writing for The Jackson Hole News in Wyoming and working at the Lahaina Library in Maui, Hawaii. She currently resides in Wānaka where she is working on her next book.
Fatbirder View:
To quote the author, talking about her book: Parrot Heaven is an unconventional, darkly humorous whodunnit taking place on Rakiura/Stewart Island. The protagonist, Maudie, is New Zealand’s southernmost librarian. Maudie is a trail-running amateur sleuth married to a fisherman. We follow her and other islanders as they juggle relationships, parenting, mental health crises, and the myriad responsibilities of being part of a small island community
The parrots in question are part of the narrative, as she says: One thread of the book deals with a pre-schooler studying for a bird track quiz, so I studied the tracks of native New Zealand birds and ornithological art. I closely observed kākā whenever I saw them (no surprise that bush parrots figure largely into the narrative).
Not my cup of tea, but for birders who liken a ‘who done it’, it has the bonus of birdy features. I also offer the details of her previous work.
Fatbirder
