The Black Monk

A woman haunted by family denial, secrets and a shadowy figure . . . While her brother Cedric spirals into addiction, Alice Lidell finds herself confronted not only by his decline, but by memories of the past. From their chaotic Auckland childhood to her present day life, Alice is haunted by a mysterious figure she calls the Black Monk. As Alice tries to hold her family together, the Black Monk appears in various guises- a stranger met in a cemetery, a face on television, a character surfacing in her own writing. Part psychological thriller, part family saga, this is a daring novel that examines the themes of the moment- shame, addiction, truth and the stories we tell to survive.