Paper Cage: A novel

by Tom Baragwanath Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld, Natalie Beran

Overview

This prizewinning debut from New Zealand novelist Tom Baragwanath is both a nail-biting thrill-ride and a beautifully written, acutely observed portrait of a community.

How far would you go to keep your family safe?

Lorraine Henry is generally content to keep her head down and get on with her work as a records clerk at the Masterton police station. But when children start going missing in her small town, Lo can't help but pay attention. After all, she has Bradley, her young nephew, to worry about, and the cops don't seem to be putting much effort into finding the kids. And then the unthinkable happens: Bradley disappears. Distraught but determined, Lorraine vows to bring him home no matter what. And, together with a detective from Wellington, she embarks on a dangerous mission, one that will illuminate all the good and all the bad in Masterton.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel
Shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction
 
"Tom Baragwanath, who makes his debut with Paper Cage, goes bone-deep with his portrayal of Lorraine Henry, a childless widow who works as a file clerk at the police department in Masterton, New Zealand, where sheep and the drug trade drive the economy. . . . Tenderness and violence are always intersecting in Paper Cage; people do bad things out of what they perceive as love. It feels as if Baragwanath has distilled a lifetime of observations into this book, and his images linger in the mind. . . . In this haunting, finely wrought book, Baragwanath illuminates the extraordinary strength of an ordinary woman." 
—Air Mail

“Baragwanath's debut is both social novel and thriller, spinning the tensions between the white and Māori populations, the chokehold of street gangs, and the toll of drug addiction on young families into a suspenseful crime drama. . . . Just the kind of dark, disturbing, gritty, and unusual treat thriller lovers are looking for.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Baragwanath’s deliciously tense debut paints an evocative portrait of a New Zealand community at risk. . . . Baragwanath powerfully highlights the racist treatment of New Zealand’s Indigenous people without sacrificing pace or intrigue, and the complicated bonds between Lorraine and the rest of her family add weight and dimension to the narrative. In weaving together a lived-in portrait of small-town New Zealand with a truly crackling mystery, Baragwanath proves himself a writer to watch.”
—Publishers Weekly

“This gritty debut novel is part thriller and part compelling analysis of the social tensions in a small New Zealand town. . . . New Zealander Baragwanath, who grew up in Masterton, brings the town and surrounding countryside to vivid life as he simultaneously and steadily ratchets up the suspense. . . . His keen understanding of the impacts of class and race on the actions of his characters and his compassionate attitude towards their weaknesses give the novel a remarkable depth.”
—Booklist

“Tom Baragwanath has mastered the craft of literary crime: this is well-paced and vividly written detective fiction with a Chandleresque grittiness to its depiction of a community in crisis.”
—The Sydney Morning Herald
 
“A perfectly pitched and plotted cracker of a debut. . . . The author's observations are as clear-eyed and intelligent as his endearingly down-to-earth [protagonist] Lorraine.”
—New Zealand Listener
 
“A compelling crime thriller.” 
—Canberra Times

“Tightly written. . . . [Baragwanath] is a fascinating talent and one to watch.”
—Kete

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2023-11-04
When children begin to go missing in a small New Zealand town, the file clerk at the police station turns investigator.

Set in the provincial town of Masterton, Baragwanath's debut is both social novel and thriller, spinning the tensions between the white and Māori populations, the chokehold of street gangs, and the toll of drug addiction on young families into a suspenseful crime drama. As the novel opens, a child named Precious Kīngi has been missing for three weeks, and Lorraine Henry, a policeman's widow who works in the file room at the station, is concerned that almost nothing is being done to find her or to protect the town’s other children. Lorraine's life revolves around her job, drinking gin with her neighbor Patty (people wrongly suspect that they’re lovers), and helping out her adult, part-Māori niece, Sheena, whom she raised after her sister and brother-in-law were killed when returning from a seasonal job shearing sheep. Now Sheena has a 7-year-old son named Bradley, and on a night so rainy there are eels in the gutters, Lorraine heads over to their house. She's greeted at the door by Bradley's mostly absentee father, Keith, a drug dealer and gang member, and she immediately smells "the musty waft" and scorched lightbulbs of cooking drugs. Sheena shrugs off Lorraine's worries but they're well-founded. Sheena is on drugs, Keith is staying with her, and in the next few days, two more children will disappear. And one of them is Bradley. When an out-of-town investigator arrives to ramp up the search, he quickly recognizes Lorraine as the most likely person to offer any help. Resist the urge to race to the climax and keep Google close at hand to look up Māori words, because fully understanding the relationship between Masterton's white and Indigenous cultures is central—not just to appreciating the book but to solving the mystery.

Just the kind of dark, disturbing, gritty, and unusual treat thriller lovers are looking for.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160092768
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	02/13/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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