Spinifex Press - Manawa Toa/Heart Warrior

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Ao Toa

Cathie Dunsford

A modern fictional equivalent of
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

What happens when a group of scientists take creation into their own hands?

Ao Toa is that rare novel – an eco-thriller combining action and suspense with deep emotions and the sensual power of the natural world. It is peopled with believable women and men, teenagers and elders, suits and activists, farmers and gardeners. As they grapple with concerns ranging from sick children and indigenous medicines to toxic sprays and genetic engineering, they encounter the realities of corruption, politics and power.

The richly realised texture of daily life expresses fundamental conflicts over food security, the care of the environment and the morality of science. The writing is irreverent, funny and fresh, catching the authentic tone and flavour of today’s global debates as they play out at a local level.

‘It’s a bargain for readers – an entertaining story that can stand on its own, and an information resource on genetic engineering, its theories and implications.’ —Esther Chin, North and West Melbourne News

Cathie Dunsford is the author of four other novels, Cowrie, The Journey Home, Manawa Toa and Song of the Selkies. Her books have been translated into German and Turkish.

Cathie Dunsford is a writer, teacher and publishing consultant. She has written four previous novels, Cowrie, The Journey Home, Manawa Toa: Heart Warrior and Song of The Selkies. (translated into German by Rogner & Bernhard in a joint volume under the title Kia Kaha Cowrie). She is also the editor of numerous anthologies including Subversive Acts (Penguin), Me and Marilyn Monroe (Daphne Brasell) and Car Maintenance, Explosives and Love (Spinifex).

ISBN 1-876756-43-8 fiction
160pp 198 x 128 mm pb
Territories:World
All rights:Spinifex

women@spinifexpress.com.au