Jenny Pattrick OBE is a jewel in New Zealand's writing community. A prolific author, Pattrick is best known for her historical and contemporary fiction - most notably the Denniston Rose series.
Sea Change is her eleventh novel, published in August 2025 - a brilliantly prescient story of community and the number-eight-wire determination of Kiwis to survive in extremis.
With Wellington identified as the possible epicentre of the next large earthquake event, Sea Change is timely.
Combining elements of Patricia Grace's Potiki, Tina Makereti's The Mires and more Fiona Farrell's Skinny Louie Book, Sea Change rehearses a possible scenario in a small town on the Kapiti Coast, where, after a large earthquake, the resulting tsunami destroys homes and changes the landscape, cutting residents off from road, rail, power and water, forcing them to evacuate. Pattrick's description of the tsunami is both fist-clenchingly harrowing and riveting.
It appears that Pattrick is in the habit of inserting her characters into beautiful, challenging landscapes in Aotearoa and examining their motivations. The characters in Sea Change are resourceful: a stalwart group remains, determined to save their homes. Pooling their skills to weather the disaster they respond with a sense of humour and righteous outrage at being sidelined by the authorities.
"...go to any small town or village in Aotearoa and you will find such people who ...have learned to work with their hands and tools and the materials around them in ways that are clever and innovative."
The mean-spirited self-interest of the (not even) resident fat cat drives this story. Rich and influential, Stokes, an engineering magnate, has his eye on the land, dreaming of an isolated resort accessible only by sea. He pitches to buy out the government's compensation to the residents: framing it as 'convenience' for insurance and EQC, pulling strings to force a 'managed retreat' from the village. As a result, the village is marginalised and forgotten by the media and civil defence, rarely receiving food and water drops in an attempt to force them to comply with the mandate. Stokes hasn't counted on the group of 'remainers' standing in his way.
"I believe that your time is over, Adrian Stokes. You and your sort. In this changing world, the ones who are needed now are people like us..."
Lorna is an elderly woman with a background in politics, Toddy Sinclair is blind, elderly and an ex-engineer with a tool-shed to die for. Eru is a young Māori boy who's bonded with his home. Gus is handy, one of the few allowed to stay and guard the place. Dylan is a recluse, mostly non-verbal and an inventive electrician, while Fleur and Dot are the 'Plumbelles' - an all woman plumbing business who see it as their mission to provide water when the authorities won't.
These are just a few who employ Kiwi ingenuity to stay in their homes and they bear their ordeal with a fair bit of comic relief: Fleur fixes to fight someone when the earthquake throws her from her seat. The villagers become fearful from being cut off and short of water, then feral: members of the arts co-op do a rain dance. On the rooftop, holding on against the ocean's onslaught,
"Mr Sinclair shifts his hands a little; she feels his grip on her tighten and wonders - surely not! - whether he might be taking advantage."
While Toddy suggests Lorna might need to pee after being on the roof during the Tsunami but she's been already.
The disaster, as often happens in Aotearoa, brings the small community closer together. Some of Pattrick's characters are introverted loners - Lorna hadn't ever been inside Toddy's house before then finds herself co-dependent on him and helping care for Eru. Dylan undergoes the biggest transformation, from non-verbal hermit to electrical saviour and hero.
Perhaps the most memorable characters are those who play their cards from the other side - in Stoke's camp.
Now 89 years of age, Jenny Pattrick was a jeweller for thirty-five years. She is a graduate of the International Institute of Modern Letters and received the Order of the British Empire for services to the arts in 1990.
Pattrick's a bit of a dark horse. If you dig a little deeper, she's written a collection of short stories, Catching the Current; a companion to the Denniston Rose series, and a play, Hope, for Circa Theatre in 2025 and a musical, Turangawaewae. In 2009 Jenny was the recipient of the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, where she and her husband Laughton wrote The Very Important Godwit, a book with songs, for children.
I'm going to leave you with these words from Jenny's song, Y2K, from the 2000 Kidsongs CD, that was sung in the Albert Hall! Sadly, WORD's talk with Jenny Pattrick was cancelled recently due to the red wind event in Canterbury.
Around the world the people gather; And silently they face the coming dawn
The turning planet peels the dark of night; A new millennium is born
What shining truth will we uncover; What will we write on this new page?
Will we go blind into a dying world; Or recreate a golden age?
E rua mano, te tau e rua mano; He take nui; He awatea
A leap into the future ; Or just another day?
Will the world be filled with wonder? Will our minds be blown away?
And will there be an end to war in Y2K?
Or will we still see children die of hunger every day?
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