Sodden Downstream

Another 'once in a century' deluge hits Wellington. Slips block both main routes, trains and buses stop, and office staff are sent home early. Sita, a Tamil refugee from Sri Lanka who lives in Naenae in the Hutt Valley with her husband and son, is told by her employer that unless she turns up for her evening shift cleaning offices downtown, her zero-hours contract is finished. With no car, she sets out toward the CBD while everyone else heads away. Over the sixteen hours that follow she depends on strangers who have little themselves, among them a man just released from prison, a sex worker, a man sleeping in his vehicle and people living rough, some of whom speed her on and some of whom hold her up.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Genres

Migration (assigned by AI)

Set in

New Zealand

First published

2017

Author's age

34 when first published

ISBN

9780473410292 (Lawrence & Gibson, New Zealand)