Eleanor Catton’s The Rehearsal has made it to the Guardian First Book Award shortlist. This is really exciting news for NZ literature and we’ve all got our fingers crossed for victory.

The Guardian reports of her chances in the article Fiction resurgent in Guardian first book award shortlist:

The third novel is New Zealander Eleanor Catton’s The Rehearsal, which has already acquired something of a love it or hate it reputation. The novel has two linked narrative threads: one set in a girls’ school in the aftermath of a pupil-teacher affair and the other in a drama school where details of the affair are used for the end-of-year production. The Bath reading group praised Catton’s writing style for its originality and accessibility, while one Oxford reader remarked: “At last! A book to get lost in.”