Gabriel’s Bay, by Catherine Robertson
Gabriel’s Bay has high unemployment, an aging and
diminishing population, and the attendant problems of petty crime, drug use and
child neglect. The local council are all
dyed-in-the-wool practitioners of licking each other’s nether regions depending
upon what it will get them, and those sterling characters who are genuine in
their wish to see the town they love survive and prosper – somehow! – are at a
loss to know how to remedy the situation before Gabriel’s Bay deteriorates into
a ghost town.
Enter Kerry Francis MacFarlane from London, employed as
home help to an elderly couple who were one of the first families in the area,
and therefore the Gentry: they are of
the mistaken belief that they have employed a woman, when in fact Kerry is a
male, and a ginger one at that (every stripe and colour gets an outing in this
book). He has left his bride at the
altar and feels that the farther he travels from the scene of the crime, the
better: to say that he is feckless is
unkind, but he definitely needs to overhaul his ‘responsible-for-his-own-mess’
sensibilities. Gabriel’s Bay is just the
place to have a change of heart. It
rolls out its characters to him gradually;
they don’t accept charming strangers with the gift of the gab at face
value, so it is up to Kerry to prove that he has stickability, especially when
floating the idea of luring tourists to the town by opening a kind of Museum of
Miniatures: both his employers have made
a wonderful miniature railway and a gorgeous dollhouse (with a real diamond chandelier!)
and the local Doctor spends his rare leisure hours making intricate and
authentic mini soldiers for war games of famous battles. These
games are tremendously popular among the local aficionados because the
historical outcome is not always achieved, depending on who’s playing: Sacre Bleu – Bonaparte won against Wellington
last week!
Naturally, Romance rears its pretty head for Kerry, but
not in the shape of someone gorgeous, lean and lithe: instead Sidney is a struggling solo mum with
two unruly sons and a waistline that disappeared long ago – in other words,
someone real. She is also a big-hearted minder of waifs and
strays, not all of whom are poor – and she doesn’t tolerate any BS, so to Win
Plump Lady and prove his worth as the town’s saviour, Kerry has to grow a spine
and, for the first time in his life, Stay Put and Follow Through.
Christmas is coming, and ‘Gabriel’s Bay’ is the ideal
present for a hugely entertaining Beach or Airport read - just the fun, feel-good story to relax with
during the holidays. Catherine Robertson
has done small-town New Zealand proud. FOUR STARS.
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