It's a novel set in New Zealand in the 1970s or so, about a rather solitary-minded woman striking up a friendship with a Maori man and his mute adopted son, with some minor mystery / speculative fiction elements. Fascinating as a portrayal of how the European and Maori cultures blend together in some families in NZ, though there's more to it than that.

It's Hulme's first novel, rejected by all the major NZ publishers and finally accepted by some small press with an apparently rather minimalist approach to editing. And then became the first Kiwi recipient of the Booker Prize in 1985 - but she hasn't published another novel since.