A Night at Green River - Noel Hilliard

A Night at Green River (1969) tells of a farmer, Clyde Hastings, who offers to pay his Māori neighbours to help harvest his hay, not realising that such payment breaches the custom of mutual help in the community. The Māori fail to come but celebrate the end of Tiwha’s harvest, leaving Clyde’s hay to be ruined by rain. In the course of a tense night Clyde and his wife discover that there are other ways to think of money and of human labour.

This short novel has something of the character of a parable. It was warmly greeted by critics, who admired its conciseness and the subtle differentiation of character as well as the balance maintained between Māori and Pākehā views, which all make the book less moralistic than a summary might suggest - Read NZ Te Pou Muramura

Noel Hilliard was a major novelist of the 1960s.

Whitcombe & Tombs 1969, this copy a 1975 reprint. Hardback with dust jacket. 

Condition: secondhand hardback in excellent condition. Some rubbing to the front and edges of the dust jacket.