COMP CLOSED | Book Giveaway | Detachment Theory

Past and present become dangerously entwined in this intricate and compelling psychological thriller from author and film-maker Richard Woolley

It is 2015, and successful Kiwi journalist Joy Manville enjoys a fulfilling life in New Zealand, Aotearoa, together with her older English husband, Stephen, a Professor in Film Studies at the University of Auckland. Almost an idyll, until their peaceful path through life is crossed by a dark shadow from Stephen’s past.

A persistent online shadow that leads Joy to question Stephen’s integrity and forces her into a disturbing and deadly investigation – first in New Zealand and then at Stephen’s childhood home and school in England.

A dark drama that pits the easy going egalitarianism of New Zealand against the privileged, often perverse background of an English upper-middle-class family.

Author Note:

‘Detachment Theory started life as a result of a sibling death. Sadly, I was unable to make it back to the UK for the funeral and instead a novel was born out of the mourning process and reflections on my own and others’ family histories; especially the role of sibling rivalry, often unnoticed by parents – and sibling secrets, often unknown to them. I wanted to explore the different approaches to family – not just between New Zealand and England, though that was part of the equation, but between those who send their children away to boarding school and those who give them love 24/7 until they flee the nest. In other words, the differences of approach that money, cultural tradition, and social status bring. Boarding school is by its very nature a form of enforced detachment from the emotional ties of family, and their replacement with bonds of class, privilege and (some would say) strange behaviour. I wanted to deal with these issues not in a dry academic way, but in the very personalised, dramatic, emotional and sometimes disturbing manner novels do best, as their characters’ lives, past and present, are laid bare. Attachment Theory is well-known to pedagogues & educationalists, Detachment Theory is the other side of the coin.

And, to end, a word on digging up the past versus letting sleeping dogs lie. Like the protagonist of Detachment Theory, Joy Manville, I have always been in favour of emotional excavation – exposing darkness to the light, getting it out to get over it – but, I have also learnt, as she does, that such an approach can have unforeseen consequences.’

About the author:

Richard Woolley is a screenwriter, writer, academic and former film director. He divides his time between the UK and New Zealand.

In the nineteen eighties he wrote and directed several films for cinema and television. These included: Telling Tales (1980), Brothers and Sisters (1981) and Girl from the South (1988). His collected film work was issued in a box set in 2011 by the British Film Institute and re-issued in 2021 with additional commentary tracks.

He has written six other works of fiction ranging from the historical novels Friends and Enemies (2010) and Stranger Love (2017) to the futuristic novel Sekabo (2014). He has lived in Berlin, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and New Zealand, as well as in his country of origin, England.

He has been Director of the Dutch Film Academy, Dean of Film & Television at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and inaugural holder of the Greg Dyke Chair of Film & Television at the University of York. He now devotes his time to writing. More information can be found at www.richardwoolley.com

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1. 1. You must be a GrownUps member and receive our newsletter to be eligible to win.
   2. Competition closes on the 12th July 2022, winners will be notified via email by 14th July 2022.
   3. As a competition winner, you must confirm you have received our email notifying you of the win within three days. If we have not heard from you in three days the prize will be redrawn, and your prize will be forfeit.
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