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After a natural disaster comes the man-made tragedy

Hi there readers!
Taylfin Publishing would like to announce the release of the new novel Bleak City by Marisa Taylor.
To mark the sixth anniversary of the start of the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence, the Kindle eBook will be FREE on 4th September. (Also 3rd and 5th September US PDT, just to allow for timezones). Grab a copy, and if you enjoy the book, please tell your friends or review it here!
Bleak City tells the story of a family living through the Canterbury earthquake sequence. It follows the life of a young woman, Alice Moorhouse, as she and her family cope with life from the time of the quakes to the present day. It asks the question ‘who do you want to be, when life is unjust and unfair?’ Although titled Bleak City, it does not see a bleak future for Christchurch, but it does acknowledge that post-quake life is a struggle for many people.
The ongoing problems being experienced by the people of Christchurch inspired Marisa Taylor to tell this story of loss, frustration, anger and disappointment balanced with the tale of a family that draws closer together as events unfold. Although it tells the story of the Christchurch earthquakes, people are at the heart of Bleak City, because it’s people who matter, not buildings, not bottom lines.
Alice Moorhouse is beginning to find her way as a young woman when her life is disrupted by a series of earthquakes. As she and her family deal with the physical and emotional toll of living in a broken city, their recovery is confounded by greedy insurers determined to protect their profits, bumbling bureaucrats unable to coordinate their efforts and uncaring politicians determined to spin the recovery for their own ends. How does Alice build a life in a devastated city and discover who she really is?




Huh, I've never heard anything about these quakes. Sounds interesting!
Please grab a copy in a couple of days!
You may not have heard of these quakes as they didn't cause as much human devastation as has been caused by other earthquakes - 185 people died. Sadly, also, that isn't enough of a tragedy to retain the attention of international media for very long. Even now, the Norcia Terremoto just a few days ago has disappeared from our news feeds. Another reason you won't have heard of it is that building codes were fairly good and people in NZ are "well insured", unlike Haiti, for instance. However, "well insured" has turned out to not mean a lot. 70% of the central business district has had to be demolished. 90% of the homes were damaged. 9000 homes were rendered uninhabitable. It has been expensive for insurance companies - the third most expensive earthquake in history, behind only the 2011 Tohoku and 1994 Northridge earthquakes. And as a result, insurance companies have been trying very hard not to hand over money, which means people haven't been getting what they are entitled to. So, despite insurance, recovery has been a struggle for many. Six years on, some people are still not settled with insurance companies. Further, the local and central government has failed to lead the recovery, and 'anchor projects' are stalled, or making little progress, despite millions being spent with only bare shingle to show for it.
Here are wikipedia links to the first earthquake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Canterbury_earthquake ...and most destructive earthquake in the sequence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Christchurch_earthquake And here is a video doco project (in progress) that highlights some of the issues and the hopes of city residents now, six years on: http://chchdilemmas.co.nz/
As the tagline of the book suggests, it is less about the earthquakes than it is about what followed. It makes you think about what is really important to you, and what you are going to trust.
I hope you read and enjoy the book.