New novel details the history of an unsavory trade

Author Saige England has taken on a rather uncomfortable subject in her new book about the early days of colonial New Zealand. During research for Ngai Tahu's land and fisheries claim before the Waitangi Tribunal, she came across details of the trade in body parts - specifically, the preserved heads of Maori. Saige says it was a history that shocked her and she's woven a young Maori woman's resistance to it in her new novel The Seasonwife. Saige has an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, and has worked as a journalist both here in New Zealand and in conflict zones overseas.