Overview

Long ago, when the men were away at the war, Alma began painting the women of the town. They sat for him in lieu of payment for his work catching rats. Alice, his favourite, returned his attentions, and when her husband, George, came home from the war, he set out to prove his love and reclaim his wife by moving a hill—wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow—for her. Now, decades later, Alma's ‘in lieu of’ payment is revived, and the townspeople, looking to escape various corners of despair, turn to drawing classes. For when you draw, the only thing that matters is what lies before you. Paint Your Wife is a colourful, sensual novel, brimming with rich stories and even richer characters.

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9781925095371

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Reviews

'A gentle, whimsical book...Jones's writing is easy and sophisticated, reminding me of Steinbeck at his humorous best...the whole fanciful sprawl is a delight.' Age 'A delightful read, moving and uplifting, and loaded with gorgeous prose...this new edition by Text Publishing has wonderfully evocative cover art by W. H. Chong. Highly recommended.' -- BookMooch

'A gentle, whimsical book...Jones's writing is easy and sophisticated, reminding me of Steinbeck at his humorous best...the whole fanciful sprawl is a delight.' Age 'A delightful read, moving and uplifting, and loaded with gorgeous prose...this new edition by Text Publishing has wonderfully evocative cover art by W. H. Chong. Highly recommended.' -- BookMooch '[This] playful, perceptive novel originally came out a decade ago. Its reappearance now completes Text's publication of his back list-and what an accolade that is...Rooted in domestic detail, yet always liable to soar into the fabulous, the narrative winds through all sorts of transformations towards reverie, reconciliation, and an epiphany of just as you are, please ...Lloyd Jones has written recently that plot now matters less to him in his writing; that the exploration of language itself is becoming more of a preoccupation. The pleasures of this swooping, sensuous narrative make you hope there'll be room for both strengths in his future fiction.' Weekend Herald

'A gentle, whimsical book...Jones's writing is easy and sophisticated, reminding me of Steinbeck at his humorous best...the whole fanciful sprawl is a delight.' Age

'A gentle, whimsical book...Jones's writing is easy and sophisticated, reminding me of Steinbeck at his humorous best...the whole fanciful sprawl is a delight.' Age 'A delightful read, moving and uplifting, and loaded with gorgeous prose...this new edition by Text Publishing has wonderfully evocative cover art by W. H. Chong. Highly recommended.' -- BookMooch '[This] playful, perceptive novel originally came out a decade ago. Its reappearance now completes Text's publication of his back list-and what an accolade that is...Rooted in domestic detail, yet always liable to soar into the fabulous, the narrative winds through all sorts of transformations towards reverie, reconciliation, and an epiphany of just as you are, please ...Lloyd Jones has written recently that plot now matters less to him in his writing; that the exploration of language itself is becoming more of a preoccupation. The pleasures of this swooping, sensuous narrative make you hope there'll be room for both strengths in his future fiction.' Weekend Herald 'He's [Jones] an impressive writer who deserves accolades aplenty for his carefully observed literary landscapes.' Big Issue Australia

Author Information

Lloyd Jones was born in New Zealand in 1955. His best-known novel is Mister Pip, which won the 2007 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the 2008 Kiriyama Prize Fiction Category, the 2008 Montana Award for Readers Choice, the Montana Fiction Award and the Montana Medal for Fiction or Poetry. It was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and has been made into a major feature film, directed by Andrew Adamson (Shrek and Narnia). His other books include Hand Me Down World, The Book of Fame—which won the Deutz Medal for Fiction at the 2001 Montana New Zealand Book Awards and the Tasmania Pacific Fiction Prize—Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance and Biografi. He has also published a collection of short stories, The Man in the Shed, and an acclaimed memoir, A History of Silence. Lloyd Jones lives in Wellington. 

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