Eddy, Eddy

Eddy Smallbone (orphan) is grappling with identity, love, loss, and religion. It's two years since he blew up his school life and the earthquakes felled his city. Home life is maddening. His pet-minding job is expanding in peculiar directions. And now the past and the future have come calling - in unexpected form.

As Eddy navigates his way through the Christchurch suburbs to Christmas, juggling competing responsibilities and an increasingly noisy interior world, he moves closer and closer to an overdue personal reckoning.

Eddy, Eddy is a richly layered novel, deftly written with humour and pathos: a love story, peopled with flawed and comical characters, both human and animal; and a story of grief, the way its punch may leave you floundering - and how others can help you find your way back.

Loosely mirroring A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Eddy, Eddy revels in language's stretch and play, the blessings of story and songs, and the giddy road to adulthood.

Short-listed for Young Adult Fiction Award 2023 (New Zealand) Long-listed for New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2025 (UK)

'Intense, funny, shocking and exuberant, Eddy, Eddy is a brilliant, rich and effervescent novel, a swirling​ polyphonic art song about faith, literature, language, music and death. But above all it's about life, and the myriad ways - sometimes right and sometimes dazzlingly wrong - that we find to save ourselves, when, like Eddy, the plates shift underneath our feet and the chasm opens.' Ursula Dubosarsky

'Lock your doors, put your phones on silent, and enjoy losing all track of time when you're introduced to Eddy and his complicated, endearing, off-beat world.'  Emma Neale

'The most marvellous book. This is one of the most superb books I've ever read. Kate De Goldi is a genius. You will love this book.' Carole Beu, Nine to Noon, RNZ

'This is a book without a single word out of place. It's profoundly moving. I loved it. ' Joan McKenzie, Whitcoulls

'A story rich in love and flawed characters and steeped in its author's love of language. An absolute beauty.' Louise Ward, Wardini Books

'Clever, funny and dark.' Kim Hill, RNZ

'Subtle, intense, very funny and very sad, this is a richly layered novel written with elegance, style and love.' Paddy Richardson, Newsroom

This is one of the standouts for the year. Heartfelt, humorous and tremendously human. Chris Reed, NZ Book Lovers

Kate De Goldi has published a range of short stories, collections and novels for adults and children. Her novel The 10pm Question (2008) was published to critical acclaim both in New Zealand and overseas, quickly becoming an iconic piece of New Zealand literature. De Goldi has been extensively involved with numerous programmes, committees and organisations focused on creative writing, reading and New Zealand literature.

Eddy, Eddy is a coming of age story, a love story, an earthquake story and a story of finding your way back from grief.

Eddy Smallbone (orphan) is grappling with identity, love, loss, and religion. It's two years since he blew up his school life and the earthquakes felled his city. Home life is maddening. His pet-minding job is expanding in peculiar directions. And now the past and the future have come calling - in unexpected form.

As Eddy navigates his way through the Christchurch suburbs to Christmas, juggling competing responsibilities and an increasingly noisy interior world, he moves closer and closer to an overdue personal reckoning.

Eddy, Eddy is a richly layered novel, deftly written with humour and pathos: a love story, peopled with flawed and comical characters, both human and animal; and a story of grief, the way its punch may leave you floundering - and how others can help you find your way back.

Loosely mirroring A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Eddy, Eddy revels in language's stretch and play, the blessings of story and songs, and the giddy road to adulthood.

'Intense, funny, shocking and exuberant, Eddy, Eddy is a brilliant, rich and effervescent novel about the myriad ways - sometimes right and sometimes dazzlingly wrong - that we find to save ourselves, when, like Eddy, the plates shift underneath our feet and the chasm opens.' Ursula Dubosarsky

'Lock your doors, put your phones on silent, and enjoy losing all track of time when you're introduced to Eddy and his complicated, endearing, off-beat world.' Emma Neale

'Eddy Eddy is sublime: so subtle & beautiful.' Carole Beu, Women's Bookshop

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.