Sit Amygdala Sit

George Chamberlain lived through the Depression and World War Two. His father was violent towards him and threw him out when he was fourteen. George was decisive and clever and not shackled by the social rules of the times. After he died he left an oral record of his experiences for his great grandson Nic. George left money to Nic so when he is old enough, Nic can fulfil George's wishes.

Nic Chamberlain lives through the Covid-19 epidemic. Like George, he is small in a family of large people. Nic is clever but not wise. Like George, he is brave and impulsive. He breaks the law and is punished with a year's probation.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Arisa Abe, a student visiting from Japan, is forced to remain in New Zealand. She moves into the Chamberlain household with Nic and his sister Talia. They fall in love but Nic is absorbed with physical fitness, and is fascinated by orangutans and Gorge's tape recordings.

Between fifteen and seventeen, Nic and Arisa mature. As the lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic are eased, Arisa wishes to have fun. Nic has some difficulty with the physical side of their relation
With school over, Nic sets off on his journey to study orangutans and to follow George's wartime footsteps in Borneo. He seeks Su Ang, the young woman who lived in a longhouse in the jungle and Abe Hideyoshi, the Japanese soldier who befriended him. He also seeks Arisa to find why she left so urgently.

Dettagli