Surfeit of Sunsets

The seaside town of Taiwhenua is besieged by sunsets. They arrive every evening and don't leave until dark. It's the mid-1980s, and Shirley has just moved there from the city with a box of books and a broken heart.

The last thing she needs is operatic sunsets, the unwelcome advances of the Pukunui Literary Society, and the newly widowed Poesy who writes bad poetry and has escaped the city for a bach bigger than most Taiwhenua dwellings.

What Shirley does need is May, sunny by nature, and just happy to be her friend. But does May need Shirley, or has the outsider upset the fine balance of life in this coastal town, setting in train something everyone will come to regret?

Surfeit of Sunsets by Dulcie Castree explores these themes in a small seaside town setting, weaving together the intricate lives of its residents.