The Idiot Played Rachmaninov

The year is 1986. Westland, New Zealand, is the far back of beyond: sheep in the valleys, moonshine and deer in the mountains, and rugged people with an intense dislike of authority. They want to be left alone. But thorium is replacing uranium as the world's nuclear fuel and when rich deposits are discovered on a Westland beach, the authorities move in and the resistance begins. Colin Renwick brings in his brutal paramilitary 'specials' to root out the resistance. But local farmer Mal O'Hara inspires a brilliant campaign of public ridicule. Something has to give. In the midst of it all is the game-changer, Rosa Driscoll: young, beautiful, mentally damaged, but a passionate genius on the piano. She is the face of the resistance.