The Black Monk
by Charlotte Grimshaw
AUCK IN STOCK
WGTN IN STOCK
288
3 Mar 2026
Trade Paperback
Penguin New Zealand
Penguin New Zealand
9781776951314
While Alice Lidell's brother Cedric drinks himself to death, she finds herself haunted not only by his decline, but by memories that blur fact, fiction and hallucination. From their chaotic Auckland childhood to her present day life, Alice is pursued by a mysterious figure she calls the Black Monk.
As Alice tries to hold her family together, the Black Monk appears in various guises- a stranger met in a cemetery, a face on television, a character surfacing in her own writing.
Part psychological thriller, part family saga, this is a daring novel that examines the themes of the moment- shame, addiction, truth and the stories we tell to survive.
Sometimes a book leaves you with more questions than answers, but in a good way! The Black Monk, by Kiwi author Charlotte Grimshaw, is one of those books. This book reminded me of Bunny by Mona Awad, with its unreliable narrator who is also a writer... So how much of the book is canon, and how much is in our narrator's mind? With its local NZ setting and dark atmosphere, this story had a great mix of familiar and strange: real and unreal. An extended family, dysfunctional yet connected by a sense of dutiful devotion, is at odds with how to handle the darker shames and secrets within their ranks. Through flashbacks and flashforwards, emails and family meetings, we experience Alice Lidell's journey to accept her family for what it is. And stalking through the pages is a mysterious figure called the Black Monk...
Nicola, Unity Books auckland
