Hold the Line

Book Author Kerry Harrison
Rights Available World Excl NZ

It’s 1981 and New Zealand is about to host the Springboks from apartheid South Africa for a national rugby tour. The well-supported protest movement pitches against a nation of die-hard rugby supporters. Despite growing public protest, the Government and Rugby Union are adamant the tour will proceed.

Beth returns from London. Her World War 2 veteran father is a rugby fanatic, her brother becomes a protestor embroiled in street violence. She studies law and meets Viktor who, unknown to her, is a member of the notorious Police Red Squad. What will happen to their polarised relationship in a country where the very survival of civil order is at risk?

A topical novel published on the fortieth anniversary of the infamous Springbok Tour, in a present world where Black Lives Matter. The tour which highlighted to the world that sport could indeed be an influential and political tool and the refusal to continue to accept apartheid could split a nation on the far side of the world.

About the Author
Auckland based, although she grew up in Wellington, Kerry is a graduate of the Masters of Creative Writing programme at AUT, Auckland and has taught English and drama for many years. She’s had poetry and a number of short stories published in literary magazines, several in Landfall. Kerry has been a semi-finalist in the Sunday Star Short Story Competition. Her novel, Wahine was published in 2011.

Married, with three children and several grandchildren, her interests are gardening, writing, swimming, politics and the environment. She was involved in the 1961 Springbok Tour and, like most New Zealanders at the time, had friends on both sides. In researching for the novel, she realised the lasting impact the Tour had on New Zealand society and the awareness of racism.