Aloneness, loneliness, isolation, the isolated consciousness, the many possible guises of outsider-status, alienation, and exclusion - these have especial potency in New Zealand life and literature. The prominence of the motif or topos of the man or woman alone has been widely recognized by literary historians and critics, but this work is the first book-length exploration of it, extended to encompass the broader theme of isolation. This study treats selected novels and short stories from the late-nineteenth century through to the early-twenty-first. Close readings of works by George Chamier,...