Set in New Plymouth in the 1960s, a new book follows a teenage boy who takes it upon himself to investigate the disappearance of the openly gay barman of his parents' pub.
The book is a work of autofiction: the author actually grew up as a young gay man in New Plymouth in the 60s working at his parents' pub, in the shadow of New Plymouth Prison, which held those convicted of homosexual acts, a crime in New Zealand until the mid-1980s.
Jeffrey Buchanan is the author of "The Birds Began to Sing", his fifth novel. It received the Michael Gifkins Prize for an unpublished manuscript in 2024 and is on shelves now.
Jeffrey Buchanan is the author of "The Birds Began to Sing" Photo: Stuart Watson/Text Publishing
