The World Around The Corner by Maurice Gee

Structurally and technically Gee's second novel, A Special Flower, is more complex and adventurous than the straightforward prose of The Big Season. Rob's involvement with ex-convict Bill Walters, a boarding-house resident, leads to the eventual rejection of his childhood values with a public act of defiance.

The short prologue, set in 19, describes Rob's voyeuristic interest as a child in a local boarding house, a den of iniquity and vice. A rebellious streak disturbs Rob's progress in rugby, his father's business, a future marriage, and his family's anticipation that he will become a pillar in their blinkered community. Gee's initial success with the publication of his short stories was followed by a bildungsroman, The Big Season, about protagonist Rob Andrews's search for identity in a stifling environment. Gee first attracted attention in the late 1950s with short stories published in New Zealand's major literary periodical, Landfall, and was highly praised by British reviewers for two stories, 'The Losers' (1959) and the even more memorable 'Eleventh Holiday' (1961). His style reverberates with subtle implications that transcend the surface realism and the immediate situations toward a universal symbolism. Favorite themes include isolation and loneliness framed in stories that discuss the effects of aging, the conflict between conformity and nonconformity, the emotional/spiritual claustrophobia of a middle-class society underscored by philistine aggression, and the moral wisdom of his youthful heroes. In his adult and juvenile fiction, he examines provincial and small-town mores, realistically evoking life in New Zealand. Maurice Gee established himself as one of New Zealand's best writers with the trilogy of novels comprising Plumb, Meg, and Sole Survivor, published between 19. Litt.: Victoria University of Wellington, 1987.

Awards: New Zealand Literary Fund scholarship, 1962, 1976, 1986, 1987, and Award of Achievement, 1967, 1973 University of Otago Robert Burns fellowship, 1964 Hubert Church Prose award, 1973 New Zealand Book award, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1991 James Tait Black Memorial prize, 1979 Wattie award, 1979, 1993 New Zealand Children's Book of the Year award, 1984 New Zealand Library Association Esther Glen Medal, 1986.

Since 1976 full-time writer writing fellow, Victoria University of Wellington, 1989. Career: School-teacher, 1955-57 held various jobs, 1958-66 assistant librarian, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, 1967-69 city librarian, Napier Public Library, 1970-72 deputy librarian, Teachers Colleges Library, Auckland, 1974-76. in English 1953 Auckland Teachers College, 1954. Education: Avondale College, Auckland, 1945-49 University of Auckland, 1950-53, M.A.

The World Around The Corner by Maurice Gee