The Predictions: A Novel

From the author of the acclaimed The Girl Below comes a stunning novel of one woman’s attempt to outrun the destiny that is predicted for her, moving from a remote New Zealand commune in the waning days of 1970s free-love experimentation to the heady music scene of 1980s London.

Gaialands, a bucolic vegan commune in the New Zealand wilderness, is the only home fifteen-year-old Poppy has ever known. It’s the epitome of 1970s counterculture—a place of free love, hard work, and high ideals…at least in theory. The reality is complicated and sometimes fraught, especially as its children reach adolescence. Poppy is drawn to handsome sixteen-year-old Lukas, who’s increasingly skeptical of Gaialands and the adults who shape its rules.

To help ‘heal’ the commune’s energy, new arrival Shakti harnesses her divination powers in a Predictions ceremony. All of Gaialands’ teenagers receive a card outlining their futures. Poppy, predicted to find her true love overseas, joins Lukas when he follows his dream of starting a punk rock band first in Auckland and then on to London, where punk has given way 80s pop and hair metal. Struggling simply to survive as they navigate the city’s squats, pubs, and burgeoning clubs, she and Lukas drift apart. Poppy finds a life that looks very like the one her prediction promised, but is it the one she truly wants? And if not, can she define her own happiness, even if it takes her in unanticipated directions?

The Predictions is a mesmerizing, magical novel of fate, love, mistakes, and finding your place.

Gaialands, a bucolic vegan commune in the New Zealand wilderness, is the only home fifteen-year-old Poppy has ever known. It's the epitome of 1970s counterculture—a place of free love, hard work, and high ideals . . . at least in theory. But Gaialands's strict principles are shaken when new arrival Shakti claims the commune's energy needs to be healed and harnesses her divination powers in a ceremony called the Predictions. Poppy is predicted to find her true love overseas, so when her boyfriend, Lukas, leaves Gaialands to fulfill his dream of starting a punk rock band in London, she follows him. In London, Poppy falls into a life that looks very like the one her prediction promised, but is it the one she truly wants?

The Predictions is a mesmerizing, magical novel of fate, love, mistakes, and finding your place in the world.

“An unforgettable novel about breaking away from others’ doctrines in order to discover what you truly believe and desire. Absorbing, compassionate, and filled with gloriously flawed characters that are sure to set off book club fireworks!” - Susan Henderson, author of Up from the Blue

“A richly atmospheric, rollicking journey through two of our most socially controversial -- and entertaining -- decades. As tender as it is gripping, THE PREDICTIONS is an unforgettable coming-of-age story that beautifully addresses what it means to move beyond the youthful winds of influence and into the hard-won rewards of mature love.” - Elizabeth Percer, author of An Uncommon Education

“A richly atmospheric, rollicking journey through two of our most socially controversial -- and entertaining -- decades. As tender as it is gripping, THE PREDICTIONS is an unforgettable coming-of-age story .” - Elizabeth Percer, author of An Uncommon Education

“Bianca Zander is a superb storyteller with a clear eye for character, location and time.” - New Zealand Herald

“An insightful read from a talented local author.” - Next magazine

Praise for The Girl Below: “A well-crafted novel whose emotional impact will linger after the final page.” - Publishers Weekly

“I just loved The Girl Below—it’s so real and moving, so funny and smart, so sharp and artful. In every sense, Bianca Zander is a fantastic writer, and I’m recommending this magical novel to all my friends.” - Curtis Sittenfeld, New York Times bestselling author of Prep and American Wife

“A thoughtful, action-packed romp combining magic realism, coming of age narrative and a Sarah Waters’ style plunge into genre fiction.” - Landfall review

“Bianca Zander creates pure magic in a nostalgic tale of the seventies and eighties with a twist... THE PREDICTIONS is a wild, exhilarating ride and Zander has created an otherworld where destiny and life collide with reality, where lust and love complicate and heal, and where fate and faith triumph.” - Robin Antalek, author of The Grown Ups and The Summer We Fell Apart

“Bianca Zander’s THE PREDICTIONS is an exhilarating and turbulent plunge into a fringe community-so alive with smells, sounds and textures that you forget you are reading at all. An unforgettable novel about breaking away from others’ doctrines in order to discover what you truly believe and desire. Absorbing, compassionate, and filled with gloriously flawed characters that are sure to set off book club fireworks!” - Susan Henderson, author of Up from the Blue