‘I loved this urgent, furious and funny novel – it dragged me back to early motherhood by my hair.’
– EMILY PERKINS, AUTHOR OF LIONESS

‘I have not felt this seen by a book, ever.’
–CLAIRE MABEY, AUTHOR AND CRITIC

Longlisted for the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

Thea lives under a mountain – one that’s ready to blow.

A vet at a mid-sized rural practice, she has been called back during maternity leave and is coping – just – with the juggle of meetings, mealtimes, farm visits, her boss’s search for legal loopholes and the constant care of her much-loved children, Eli and Lucy.

But something is shifting in Thea – something is burning. Or is it that she is becoming aware, for the first time, of the bright, hot core at her centre?

Then comes an urgent call.

Ingeniously layered, Ash is a story about reckoning with one’s rage and finding marvels in the midst of chaos.