Cirrus@Austlit

'Von's mom, Charlene, has been gone for ten years when, out of the blue, she asks him to visit her in New Zealand. Charlene's a dancer at a Wellington nightclub. Her partner is running from the cops, and she is struggling to keep her two-year-old daughter Stella. Von finds himself trapped in his mother's chaotic world, spending every night at home playing parent to Stella. Still, it's not too bad on Cuba Street. Von likes the quirky people who live there. But when things go badly wrong, Von's drawn to the home of his Moriori ancestors where the old ones wait to help him, if he has the strength to listen to them.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.