Captive Wife, The

by Kidman, Fiona

  I appreciate the very professional assistance of staff at Te Papa, in particular, Carolyn McGill; the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington; the Mitchell Library, NSW; Puke Ariki, New Plymouth; the Wanganui Regional Museum, the South Taranaki District Museum, Patea and the Opunake Public Library.

  The quotation at the opening is by Geoffrey Scott, from his book, Sydney’s Highways of History, published Georgian House 1958. Attempts to trace the author have been unsuccessful. Contact by the copyright holder would be welcome.

  As ever, I cannot thank my editors, Anna Rogers and Harriet Allan, enough for their inspiration and skill.

  Fiona Kidman

  Fiona Kidman has written more than 20 books, mainly novels and short stories. Her novel The Book of Secrets won the Fiction category of the New Zealand Book Awards, and several others have been short-listed. She has been awarded a number of prizes and fellowships, including the Mobil Short Story Award, the Victoria Writers Fellowship, and the OBE for services to literature. She is a Dame Commander of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

  Fiona Kidman lives in Wellington.

  PREVIOUS PUBLICATIONS BY THE AUTHOR

  POETRY

  Honey & Bitters (1975)

  On the Tightrope (1977)

  Going to the Chathams (1985)

  Wakeful Nights (1993)

  PLAYS

  Search for Sister Blue (1975)

  NON-FICTION

  Gone North (1984)

  Wellington (1989)

  Palm Prints (1994)

  SHORT STORIES

  Mrs Dixon & Friend (1982)

  Unsuitable Friends (1988)

  The Foreign Woman (1994)

  The House Within (1997)

  The Best of Fiona Kidman’s Short Stories (1988)

  A Needle in the Heart (2002)

  ANTHOLOGIES (EDITOR)

  New Zealand Love Stories (1998)

  Best New Zealand Fiction: 1 (2004)

  Best New Zealand Fiction: 2 (2005)

  NOVELS

  A Breed of Women (1979)

  Mandarin Summer (1981)

  Paddy’s Puzzle (1983)

  The Book of Secrets (1987)

  True Stars (1990)

  Ricochet Baby (1996)

  Songs From the Violet Café (2003)

  National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  Kidman, Fiona, 1940-

  The captive wife / Fiona Kidman.

  ISBN 1-86941-686-4

  l. Title.

  NZ823.2––dc 22

  A VINTAGE BOOK

  published by

  Random House New Zealand

  18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand

  www.randomhouse.co.nz

  First published 2005

  © 2005 Fiona Kidman

  The moral rights of the author have been asserted

  ISBN 1 86941 686 4