{"title":"Steven Conte","description":"\u003cp\u003eSteven Conte is a celebrated Australian author renowned for his evocative storytelling and richly detailed narratives. His works tend to explore the complex interplay of human relationships against the backdrop of historical events, offering readers an immersive experience filled with emotional depth and insight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis critically acclaimed novel, \u003cem\u003eThe Tolstoy Estate\u003c\/em\u003e, takes readers to the harsh landscapes of World War II Russia, where a German surgeon and his team are billeted at the former estate of Leo Tolstoy. This gripping tale vividly captures the conflicts and camaraderies that arise amidst a setting steeped in literary history, weaving together themes of love, war, and the enduring power of art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnother noteworthy title, \u003cem\u003eThe Zookeeper's War\u003c\/em\u003e, transports readers to wartime Berlin, delving into the life of a zookeeper and his wife as they navigate the trials of conflict and their own personal struggles. This novel paints an intimate portrait of survival and moral dilemmas during one of history's most turbulent times, underscoring Conte's knack for blending historical accuracy with compelling human drama.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBoth novels are categorised as General Fiction, showcasing Steven Conte's ability to bring historical moments to life through fiction, making them resonate with today's readers. Dive into this collection to experience stories that are as thought-provoking as they are beautifully written.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-tolstoy-estate-by-steven-conte-9781460758823","title":"The Tolstoy Estate","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEpic in scope, ambitious and astonishingly good, \u003cem\u003eThe Tolstoy Estate\u003c\/em\u003e proclaims Steven Conte as one of Australia's finest writers.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the winner of the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award, Steven Conte, comes a powerful, densely rich and deeply affecting novel of love, war and literature.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Grave, moving, engaging ... full of the flash and fire of dramatic incident, but also full of real feeling, humour and poignancy, and equipped with plenty of panache ... It deserves the widest possible readership.' \u003cem\u003eThe Saturday Paper\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the first year of the doomed German invasion of Russia in WWII, a German military doctor, Paul Bauer, is assigned to establish a field hospital at Yasnaya Polyana - the former grand estate of Count Leo Tolstoy, the author of the classic \u003cem\u003eWar and Peace\u003c\/em\u003e. There he encounters a hostile aristocratic Russian woman, Katerina Trubetzkaya, a writer who has been left in charge of the estate. But even as a tentative friendship develops between them, Bauer's hostile and arrogant commanding officer, Julius Metz, becomes erratic and unhinged as the war turns against the Germans. Over the course of six weeks, in the terrible winter of 1941, everything starts to unravel...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the critically acclaimed and award-winning author, Steven Conte, \u003cem\u003eThe Tolstoy Estate\u003c\/em\u003e is ambitious, accomplished and astonishingly good: an engrossing, intense and compelling exploration of the horror and brutality of conflict, and the moral, emotional, physical and intellectual limits that people reach in wartime. It is also a poignant, bittersweet love story - and, most movingly, a novel that explores the notion that literature can still be a potent force for good in our world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2021 Walter Scott Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Age Book of the Year Award 2021\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the 2021 Colin Roderick Award Longlist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the 2021 Indie Book Awards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Breathtaking ... an intelligent cinematic blockbuster. Celebrating the power of literature to dissolve barriers and forge connections.' \u003cem\u003eThe West Australian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Reading a book that is such a complete world, evoked in such fine detail, is almost wickedly satisfying ... Elegant, intelligent, utterly engrossing and immersive ... He reminds us that travel is always possible in the imagination even when reality goes dark and that literature always leads us towards the light.' Caroline Baum\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Steven Conte has written a sweeping historical saga spanning the Second World War and the frigid decades of peace that followed; an essential novel about essential things - love's triumphs and failures, the redoubtable human spirit, and the power of literary art itself. Tolstoy, of course, is at the novel's heart, and in its very soul.' Luke Slattery, author, journalist, Books Editor of \u003cem\u003eAustralian Financial Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A riveting story of war, love and literature - Conte's prose does not miss a beat.' Jane Gleeson-White, award-winning author of \u003cem\u003eClassics\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eDouble Entry\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46556048097516,"sku":"9781460758823","price":35.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2068913482708.jpg?v=1750132732"},{"product_id":"the-zookeepers-war-by-steven-conte-9781460759417","title":"The Zookeeper's War","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn extraordinary, award-winning debut, a story of passion and sacrifice in a city battered by war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award, and shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Christina Stead Award for Fiction.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn wartime Berlin, who can you trust?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e1943: Each night in a bomb shelter beneath the Berlin Zoo, an Australian woman, Vera, shelters with her German husband, Axel, the zoo's director. Together, they struggle to look after the animals through the air raids and food shortages. When the zoo's staff is drafted into the army, forced labourers are sent in as replacements. At first, Vera finds the idea abhorrent, but gradually she realises that the new workers are the zoo's only hope, and forms an unlikely bond with one of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut Berlin is a city where a foreign accent is a constant source of suspicion, where busybodies report the names of neighbours' dinner guests to the Gestapo. As tensions mount in the closing days of the war, nothing and no one, it seems, can be trusted.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Zookeeper's War\u003c\/em\u003e is a powerful novel of a marriage and of a city collapsing. It confronts not only the brutality of war but the possibility of heroism — and delivers an ending that is both shocking and deeply moving.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Beautifully textured\u003c\/strong\u003e and extremely well realised ... a clever, \u003cstrong\u003einspired\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003einsightful\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003etension-filled\u003c\/strong\u003e drama' \u003cem\u003eBookseller + Publisher\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46556422406380,"sku":"9781460759417","price":25.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2074853482708.jpg?v=1750146465"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/steven-conte.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}