Tane's War by Brendaniel Weir

Set amidst the battlefields of the Great War and the shearing sheds of 1954 Hunua, Brendaniel Weir’s debut novel Tane’s War examines the challenges facing gay men during both wartime and peace.

One lifetime, two battles.

It’s 1953 and Briar is a dreamer living with his father in Pukekohe. His behaviour sees him sent to a training farm to be “turned into a man.” But the plan backfires when his arrival awakens feelings in fellow shearer, Aussie.

Tane is the farm foreman and his Māori heritage sets him apart. Briar and Aussie threaten the walls Tane has built around his own secret past; walls created in the trenches of WW1. Tane is confronted with a choice. He cannot change history but maybe he can help change the future.