Wonderland

PUBLISHED BY

NZ 2025 / The Cuba Press

Introducing Wonderland, the new novel by Tracy Farr, out now from The Cuba Press.

Here is a story. We can tell it to you. We saw it with our own six eyes. We heard it with our own six shell-like ears. We held it in our own six hands, so we can tell you (oh yes!).

The start of this story is the day the Lady came.

No, the start of this story is the start of us, and Wonderland.

Te Motu Kairangi Miramar Peninsula, Wellington 1912

Doctor Matti Loverock spends her days and nights bringing babies into the world, which means her daughters – seven-year-old triplets Ada, Oona and Hanna – have grown up at Wonderland, the once-thriving amusement park owned by their father, Charlie.

Then a grieving woman arrives to stay from the other side of the world, in pain and incognito, fleeing scandal. She ignites the triplets’ curiosity and brings work for Matti, diverting them all from what is really happening at Wonderland.

In a bold reimagining, Marie Curie – famous for her work on radioactivity – comes to Aotearoa and discovers both solace and wonder.

Reviews

Paula Morris Listener

Every page is artful. Wonderland’s narrative voices are distinct and its central lie – Curie’s incognito visit – is utterly persuasive … Farr makes the fantastical seem plausible and everyday objects – a stick, a bottle, faded shreds of ribbon – conveyors of magic.

– Paula Morris reviews Wonderland in the Listener

RNZ review

… lovely, brief sections of narrative … build a kind of momentum and produce this kaleidoscope of perspectives which reflect and refract, skip along, their thoughts very much inside their heads – but it’s also very much a novel of place … and it’s a lovely tip to Wellington, to its sea and its sky, its hills and its weather.

– Louise O’Brien reviews Wonderland on RNZ

Listen to the review
NZ Booklovers

Farr’s writing is magical, lyrical and mesmerising. … Wonderland was a surprise read for me, a slow burn that kept working its way under my skin and has stuck with me long after I read the final pages. A real wonder.

– Rebekah Lyell reviews Wonderland for NZ Booklovers

Read the review
Fiona Kidman – hopeful

… profound scientific insights [are] born of Farr’s other life as a scientist, delivered with dazzling ease and readability, alongside the buoyant voices of three surprising children. I love this passionate, beautifully constructed, sorrowful, and yet immensely hopeful book.

– Fiona Kidman

Gigi Fenster

Mesmerising. A book that leaves you filled with wonder, and deeply moved. I loved it.

– Gigi Fenster

Solomon Prize judges

Wonderland stood out for its sheer originality and the lyricism of its writing, which transported us while we read and stayed with us after we’d finished. It’s an absolute delight.

– NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize judges, 2024

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Interviews, news, reviews

Audio – Catherine Robertson on Wonderland

Catherine Robertson lavishes love on Wonderland in the Book Critic spot with Jesse Mulligan on RNZ Afternoons.

Roundup of reviews

Here’s what writers and reviewers are saying about Wonderland. Find out more

Q&A with Tracy Farr – The Hope Fault, and the origins of Wonderland

Ahead of the US release of The Hope Fault, writer, editor, book blogger and ex-journalist Deborah Kalb asked Tracy to answer some questions about the novel. Deborah asked Tracy about her writing process, long-lost manuscripts, where characters come from, endings – and why Tracy’s next novel (the 2025-published Wonderland) is about triplets. Read Q&A with Tracy Farr