The Dream of Nikau Jam

Bursting with verbal dexterity and laugh-out-loud humour, this novel also shows compassion and warm affection for the West Coast landscape and people.

Simon Fyfe, better known as Feefi - short for Fee Fi Fo Fum - is Special. He's a giant of a man (he stayed in his mother's womb for an extra month) and, most of his Westport friends would agree, he's not the full quid. But he often has thoughts the others in the Mine and at the pub call 'deep', and his knowledge of nature is unmatched.

From his mother he learned the art of making jam from the fruit of the protected nikau palm, and when the conservationists from Over the Hill hit town, the trouble begins. But, out of the glorious legal and emotional tangle that results, Feefi emerges triumphant - and in love for the first time in his life.