Details of author Eleanor Catton's first book since she won the 2013 Man Booker Prize for The Luminaries have been revealed.
Eleanor Catton. Photo: ROBERT CATTO
Birnam Wood, her third novel after The Luminaries and The Rehearsal, is expected to be delivered to publishers later this year.
Described as a "psychological thriller" in a statement from Catton's agent, the book is set in a remote area of New Zealand where "scores of ultra-rich foreigners are building fortress-like homes and stockpiling weapons in preparation for a coming global catastrophe".
"The novel follows the guerrilla gardening outfit Birnam Wood, a ragtag group of quarrelling leftists who move about the country cultivating other people's land."
The New Zealand author became the youngest ever winner of the Man Booker Prize - aged 28 - when she won for The Luminaries in 2013. The book also received the 2013 Governor General's Literary Award.
A television adaptation of The Luminaries, scripted by Catton, is being filmed in New Zealand by Working Title Television for the BBC this year.