26/08/2026
Congratulations to Deborah Challinor ! A book not to miss out on🖤
Congratulations to bestselling Waikato author Deborah Challinor MNZM on being longlisted for the 2026 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel for the second book in her Tatty Crowe series, BLACK SILK AND BURIED SECRETS.
A renowned author and historian, Deborah has published more than 20 books - mainly historical fiction bestsellers, but also a YA title and two non-fiction works on the Vietnam War.
She has been a key figure in the local boom in historical fiction over the past 25 years, where the genre has "transformed from a niche literary interest into a dominant commercial powerhouse and critical darling" (per the Academy of New Zealand Literature).
Deborah was recognised as a Distinguished Alumni at in 2017, and in 2018 she became a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature and historical research.
Recently, she's launched a series set in the 1860s-1870s starring Tatty Crowe, Sydney's first female undertaker.
Here's a blurb of her Ngaios-longlisted second Tatty Crowe novel:
"Sydney, 1871. Twenty-five-year-old widow Tatty Crowe is the owner of busy undertaking firm Crowe Funerals. Life and business are good until Tatty notices how many women are dying after unlawful abortions, and after a terrible tragedy strikes close to home, she vows to expose the culprit.
And then there are the whispered rumours of baby farming. Once again Tatty sets out to investigate the crisis and finds herself immersed in the dark and sometimes heartless world of paid foster care and adoption. Along the way she encounters an old foe, and clashes with a new adversary who, it transpires, is far more dangerous."
Congratulations Deborah!
