100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders 🚀

Wise Children

Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Wise Children follows the lives of twin chorus girls Nora and Dora Chance as they celebrate their 75th birthday in Brixton. On the same day, their potentially estranged father, renowned actor Melchior Hazard, turns 100 in Chelsea. The story, narrated by Dora in her old age, delves into secrets of illegitimacy and family scandal within a theatrical family in South London. Filled with music, mischief, showbiz glamour, and Shakespearean twists, it is a rich tale of love, forgiveness, and the enduring spirit of performance.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This heartfelt and flamboyant narrative will appeal to readers who enjoy theatrical storytelling, family dramas, and witty explorations of British culture and show business.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A big, bawdy tangle of theatrical joy and heartbreak, Wise Children is a celebration of show business, family, forgiveness and hope, adapted by Emma Rice from the novel by Angela Carter.

A big, bawdy tangle of theatrical joy and heartbreak, Wise Children is a celebration of show business, family, forgiveness and hope, adapted by Emma Rice from the novel by Angela Carter.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In Brixton, Nora and Dora Chance – twin chorus girls born and bred south of the river – are celebrating their 75th birthday. Over the river in Chelsea, their father and greatest actor of his generation, Melchior Hazard, turns 100 on the same day. As does his twin brother Peregrine. If, in fact, he’s still alive. And if, in truth, Melchior is their real father after all…

Wise Children is adapted for the stage from Angela Carter's last novel about a theatrical family living in South London. It centres around twin chorus girls, Nora and Dora Chance, whose lives are brimming with mystery, illegitimacy, and scandal.

Dora narrates the story as her older self, looking back on a tumultuous life, throughout which she and her sister have loved to sing and dance. A big, bawdy tangle of theatrical joy and heartbreak, Wise Children is a celebration of show business, family, forgiveness, and hope. Expect show girls and Shakespeare, sex and scandal, music, mischief, and mistaken identity – and butterflies by the thousand.

Series: Oberon Modern Plays

View all
  • The Master and Margarita
    A mysterious stranger appears in a Moscow park. Soon, he and his retinue have astonished the locals with the magic show to end all magic shows. But why are they really here, and what has it got to do with the beautiful Margarita, or her lover, the Master, a silenced writer? A carnival for the senses and a diabolical extravaganza,...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Love is the Revolution
    I’m not tame 'cause I want to be with you Basti and Rdeca are pulling all-nighters. When their paths cross, the sparks fly, and an impossible bond spirals dangerously out of control. A viciously funny and unforgettable play about first love, teenage lust, and nature vs nurture. First Love is the Revolution by Rita Kalnejais is an audacious new play...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • A Disappearing Number
    A Disappearing Number takes as its starting point the story of one of the most mysterious and romantic mathematical collaborations of all time. Simultaneously a narrative and an enquiry, the production crosses three continents and several histories, to weave a provocative theatrical pattern about our relentless compulsion to understand. A man mourns the loss of his lover, a mathematician mourns...
    Paperback
    $2199
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Norma Jeane Baker of Troy
    Norma Jeane Baker of Troy is a partly spoken, partly sung performance piece by poet, essayist, and scholar Anne Carson. It is an exploration of the lives and myths of Marilyn Monroe and Helen of Troy—iconic beauties who lived millennia apart. A thrilling and thoughtful meditation on the destabilising and destructive power of beauty, it had its world premiere at...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Thom Pain (based on nothing)
    From the last lonely wilderness, the last dark corner of these overlit times, in the camouflage of the common man, Thom Pain takes the stage, fumbling with his heart, squinting into the light. With terrible timing and impeccable regret, over-educated in the wrong ways, and wounded in the right ones, he appears. Teeth bared, as he picks a piece of...
    Paperback
    $2199
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Novecento
    At the turn of the 20th Century, the great cruise liner Virginia shuttles back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean, transporting passengers from old Europe to the New World. When an abandoned baby is found on board, the sailors christen him Novecento – 1900. The child is destined to a strange fate. Novecento will never leave the ship as long...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Oppenheimer
    1939: fascism spreads across Europe, Franco marches on Barcelona and two German chemists discover the processes of atomic fission. In Berkeley, California, theoretical physicists recognise the horrendous potential of this new science: a weapon that draws its power from the very building blocks of the universe. Struggling to cast off his radical past and thrust into a position of power...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Peter Pan
    This winter, JM Barrie's much-loved tale takes flight. Following the acclaimed Jane Eyre, director Sally Cookson brings her wondrously inventive Peter Pan to the NT after a sell-out run at Bristol Old Vic. Exploring the possibilities and pain of growing up, it’s a riot of magic, mischief, music and make-believe.
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Good Soldier
    This is the saddest story I have ever heard. So begins Julian Mitchell’s stage adaptation of Ford Madox Ford’s classic novel, The Good Soldier, a tale of deceit, delusion, and disintegrating marriage in pre-war Britain. Two seemingly upstanding couples find their friendships enveloped by scandal and tragedy, as the façade of wealth and privilege falls away and details of their...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Seagull
    “We need the theatre, couldn’t, couldn’t do without it. Could we?” A successful actress visits her brother’s isolated estate far from the city, throwing the frustrated residents' unfulfilled ambitions into sharp relief. As her son attempts to impress with a self-penned play, putting much more than his pride at stake, others dream of fame, love and the ability to change...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Twilight Zone
    Between light and shadow, science and superstition, fear and knowledge is a dimension of imagination. An area we call The Twilight Zone. Adapted by Anne Washburn (Mr Burns) and directed by Olivier Award-winner Richard Jones, this world premiere production of the acclaimed CBS Television Series The Twilight Zone lands on stage for the first time in its history. Or its...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Wise Children
    In Brixton, Nora and Dora Chance – twin chorus girls born and bred south of the river – are celebrating their 75th birthday. Over the river in Chelsea, their father and greatest actor of his generation, Melchior Hazard, turns 100 on the same day. As does his twin brother Peregrine. If, in fact, he’s still alive. And if, in truth,...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781786826916

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 October 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Oberon Books Ltd

Contributors:

  • Adapted by Emma Rice

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 10.0mm

Width: 124.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 140g

Pages: 120

About the Author

Emma Rice is the Artistic Director of theatre company, Wise Children, formed in 2018. As Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe (2016/18), she directed ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS, TWELFTH NIGHT, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and THE LITTLE MATCHGIRL (and Other Happier Tales).

For the previous 20 years, she worked for Kneehigh as an actor, director and Artistic Director. Her productions for Kneehigh include: THE FLYING LOVERS OF VITEBSK, TRISTAN & YSEULT, 946: THE AMAZING STORY OF ADOLPHUS TIPS, THE WILD BRIDE, THE RED SHOES, THE WOODEN FROCK, THE BACCHAE, CYMBELINE (in association with RSC), A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (in association with National Theatre), RAPUNZEL (in association with Battersea Arts Centre), BRIEF ENCOUNTER (in association with David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers Productions), DON JOHN (in association with the RSC and Bristol Old Vic), WAH! WAH! GIRLS (in association with Sadler’s Wells and Theatre Royal Stratford East for World Stages) and STEPTOE AND SON.

Other work includes: the West End production of THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, OEDIPUSSY (Spymonkey); THE EMPRESS (RSC); and AN AUDIENCE WITH MEOW MEOW (Berkeley Repertory Theatre).

Also by Angela Carter

View all
  • The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
    Vintage Quarterbound Classics - Bound to be beautiful A beautiful hardback edition of Angela Carter's feminist retelling of fairy tales—masterful, seductive, and luminous. From familiar fairy tales and legends—Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Beauty and the Beast, vampires and werewolves—Angela Carter has created an absorbing collection of dark, sensual, fantastic stories. 'Magnificent set pieces of fastidious sensuality' Ian...
    Hardback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Nights at the Circus
    Raunchy, raucous...a rich, turn of the 19th century world, which reeks of human and animal variety — The Times Is Sophie Fevvers, toast of Europe's capitals, part swan...or all fake? Courted by the Prince of Wales and painted by Toulouse-Lautrec, she is an aerialiste extraordinaire and star of Colonel Kearney's circus. She is also part woman, part swan. Jack Walser,...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Nights at the Circus
    Vintage Classics WEIRD GIRLS: Dive into the depraved, delectable depths of women’s weird fiction. Is Sophie Fevvers, toast of Europe's capitals, part swan...or all fake? Courted by the Prince of Wales and painted by Toulouse-Lautrec, she is an aerialiste extraordinaire and star of Colonel Kearney's circus. She is also part woman, part swan. Jack Walser, an American journalist, is on...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Magic Toyshop
    The boldest of English women writers - Lorna Sage Her writing is pyrotechnic - fuelled with ideas, packed with images and spangling the night with her starry language - Observer She can glide from ancient to modern, from darkness to luminosity, from depravity to comedy without any hint of strain and without losing the elusive power of the original tales...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Angela Carter's Book Of Wayward Girls And Wicked Women
    'Wicked, wayward or otherwise, Carter's classic collection is a very erudite expression of girl power' - MINA HOLLAND, GUARDIAN 'One of the century's greatest writers' - SUNDAY TIMES This bestselling collection of stories extols the female virtues of discontent, sexual disruptiveness and bad manners. These are subversive tales by Ama Ata Aidoo, Jane Bowles, Angela Carter, Colette, Bessie Head, Jamaica...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
    The old fairy stories live again, subtly altered. By the prize-winning author of Wise Children, Nights at the Circus, American Ghosts and Old World Wonders and Expletives Deleted.
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2300
    Backorder
    Ships early August
  • Angela Carter's Book Of Fairy Tales
    Once upon a time, fairy tales weren't meant just for children, and neither is Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales. This stunning collection contains lyrical tales, bloody tales, and hilariously funny and ripely bawdy stories from countries all around the world—from the Arctic to Asia—and no dippy princesses or soppy fairies. Instead, we have pretty maids and old crones; crafty...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • American Ghosts & Old World Wonders
    The dazzling last collection of short fiction from Angela Carter. Shortly before her death, Angela Carter was preparing this volume of short stories, one which does full justice to the glory of her imagination and the range of her talent. It is divided into distinct parts. The first comprises a group of stories inspired by America—Lizzie Borden visits a circus;...
    Paperback
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Sadeian Woman
    'The tone is one of intellectual relish . . . rational . . . refined . . . witty' NEW STATESMAN 'Her work is funny, sexy, frightening and brutal' EDMUND GORDON, GUARDIAN 'Angela Carter liked to blur boundaries and break rules' GABY WOOD, INDEPENDENT Celebrating five decades of the feminist publisher, each of the Five Gold Reads represents an iconic...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
    Angela Carter was a storytelling sorceress, the literary godmother of Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, Audrey Niffenegger, J.K. Rowling, Kelly Link, and other contemporary masters of supernatural fiction. In her masterpiece, The Bloody Chamber, which includes the story that is the basis of Neil Jordan's 1984 movie The Company of Wolves, she spins subversively dark and sensual versions of familiar fairy...
    Paperback
    $4800
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • The Magic Toyshop
    The boldest of English women writers - Lorna Sage Her writing is pyrotechnic - fuelled with ideas, packed with images and spangling the night with her starry language - Observer She can glide from ancient to modern, from darkness to luminosity, from depravity to comedy without any hint of strain and without losing the elusive power of the original tales...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Also by Emma Rice

View all
  • The Buddha of Suburbia
    My name is Karim Amir, and I am an Englishman born and bred. Almost. South London in the late seventies. High unemployment, high inflation, food shortages and strikes. But despite the winter of discontent, 17-year-old Karim’s life is about to explode into glorious technicolour as he navigates a path to enlightenment. Or at the very least, Beckenham. Emma Rice adapts...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from Arts & Culture

View all
  • Dylan's Pick
    Bold Types
    A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...
    Hardback
    $5500
    Elsewhere:
    $7000
    Available
    Ships in 1 week
  • Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    New Release
    Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $5299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • This Angry Pen of Mine
    This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...
    Hardback
    $7299
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • They Bloom Because of You
    Bestselling author and Instagram sensation Jessica Urlichs returns with a new collection of beautifully observed poems about the ever-evolving journey of motherhood - the hard, the magic and the fleeting. ‘A raw and honest read that makes you feel seen and understood in a way that will bring you to tears.’ - Hilary Swank ‘A book to keep close and...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3600
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Leaves of Grass
    A collectible new Penguin Classics series offers beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouragement led to what would become a lifelong project, as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death...
    Hardback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Great Writers and the Cats who Owned Them
    Throughout history, cats and writers have bonded together in a magical combination of comfort, companionship and inspiration. The famous authors featured here range from Samuel Johnson, whose cat Hodge dined on oysters, and Edward Lear, whose charismatic cat Foss was missing half his tail, to Margaret Mitchell, L. M. Montgomery and Dorothy L. Sayers, who rescued her kitten Blitz from...
    Hardback
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Beautiful Chaos
    The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller Selected poems from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'These words awaken the magic of life by celebrating the ordinary.' - Giovanna Fletcher Motherhood is messy and beautiful, and hard and humbling. We adore our children and sometimes we miss ourselves. Beautiful Chaos is a collection of raw, honest poems about motherhood, capturing everything...
    Paperback
    $2900
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Odyssey
    Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travellers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. This fresh, authoritative translation captures the beauty of this ancient poem as well as the drama of its narrative....
    By Homer
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3599
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • To the Women - The New Collection of Wise Words Every Woman Needs
    THE COMPLETELY UPDATED COLLECTION WITH OVER 70 BRAND NEW POEMS, FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WILD HOPE AND WORDS TO LIVE BY 'Amazing . . . Donna's words speak to my heart' Davina McCall To the Women is a celebration of the beauty, strength, and joy of being a woman. A love letter to our deep capacity...
    Hardback
    $2999
    Backorder
    Ships early August
  • Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour
    The creative journey continues with Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour by Keri Smith, the latest and most vibrant edition of the groundbreaking series that redefined journaling. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this edition brings the playful destructiveness of the original to life in dazzling full colour, adding a dynamic new dimension to the beloved prompts. Whether you're a seasoned Wreck-er,...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Thousand Feasts
    THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From award-winning writer Nigel Slater, comes a new and exquisitely written collection of notes, memoir, stories and small moments of joy. 'Nigel Slater’s prose is the rarest delicacy of all: exquisite yet effortless, filled with heart, tenderness, yearning and humour' ELIZABETH DAY For years, Nigel Slater has kept notebooks of curiosities and wonderings, penned...
    Paperback
    $2999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Did I Ever Tell You This?
    In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    Backorder
    Ships late August

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 80,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.