Maurice and me, by Geoff Chapple: part 2

Maurice and me, by Geoff Chapple: part 2

George Orwell says in one of his essays that a writer’s best years lie between the ages of 30 and 45. Maurice Gee has read those essays – what writer doesn’t? – and at 44, in 1975, it’s late in the day maybe, but for the first time his inchoate life is aligning. He resigns from his library position. Margareta and Moss sell their Mt Eden house, and by November 1975, have settled in Nelson. The house overhangs the Maitai River and has a dirt-floor…