Book news, reviews and recommendations
I’ve read umpteen books by Americans, quite a few, although not as many as I’d like, by Canadian and Australian writers but not many by New Zealanders. Given the quality of those that I have read, I’m sure there are many more I’d like to, if only I could get my hands on them. Here […]
Five Novels I’ve read by New Zealanders Read More »
I remember choosing not to read New Zealand writer Anna Smaill’s Man Booker longlisted debut The Chimes thinking it sounded a little too fantastical for me, although I may well overcome that objection having read her new novel, Bird Life. Set in Tokyo, it’s the story of two women, both suffering terrible loss, each seeing
Bird Life by Anna Smaill: A beautiful novel of madness and grief Read More »
I was a big fan of Chloe Lane’s debut, The Swimmers, which handled the tricky theme of assisted dying with empathy lightly underpinned with humour. A hard act to pull off but Lane did it beautifully which made me keen to read her second novel. Spanning just a few weeks, Arms & Legs follows Georgie
Arms & Legs by Chloe Lane: Playing with fire Read More »
Assisted dying isn’t the easiest theme to explore but it was what attracted me to New Zealand writer Chloe Lane’s The Swimmers set over a long holiday weekend in which a daughter visits the family home for the first time. We know within a few pages that Erin’s terminally ill mother has asked her sister
The Swimmers by Chloe Lane: We are family Read More »
I enjoyed Fiona Kidman’s All Day at the Movies so much that I included it on last year’s Women’s Prize wish list. Of course, I knew there was little or no hope that the judges would agree. Spanning 1952 to 2015, it told the story of a family, offering a glimpse of New Zealand’s social
This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman: A young life lost Read More »
I could start this post with yet another protestation that I’m not an historical fiction fan but I’m not entirely sure that’s true, particularly after listing Imogen Hermes Gower’s The Mermaid and the Mrs Hancock amongst my books of 2018. Perhaps I should adopt the term Craig Cliff mentions in his acknowledgements – romanzi storici
The Mannequin Makers by Craig Cliff: Several stories for the price of one Read More »
Like that old joke about buses, after not reading a novel by a New Zealand author in a very long time I’ve read two in just over a month – first C. K. Stead’s The Necessary Angel and now Fiona Kidman’s All Day at the Movies. I remember reading a post at Word by Word
All Day at the Movies by Fiona Kidman: The story of a family Read More »
The title of C. K. Stead’s novel may ring a few bells for some. It’s taken from a collection of essays on poetry by Wallace Stevens. I wish I could tell you that bit of knowledge was lodged in my brain, ready to be slipped neatly into this review but the reference is made clear
The Necessary Angel by C.K. Stead: Reality and the world Read More »
There’s a curiously old-fashioned feel to Sebastian Hampson’s debut. It’s about a naïve gauche young man about to start his art history studies at the Sorbonne and his encounter with an older, sophisticated woman who decides to make something of him. The press release suggests Brief Encounter and there’s certainly a cinematic feel about Hampson’s
The Train to Paris by Sebastian Hampson: More than just a romp Read More »