Great Reads for Great Readers

 

Peninsula, by Sharron Came.

 

 

           This mighty collection of short stories is Ms Came’s first book – and that’s hard to imagine because her writing is relaxed, polished and assured, as if she had been a published author all her working life.  She has set her stories and their characters in the small fictional town of Hereford, north of Auckland;  it is a farming community, recently gaining popularity because of its proximity to the Big Smoke as a weekend bolt-hole for rich city-dwellers, and the locals that haven’t sold parts of their farms for development are chuffed because of the extra business flowing through the district.  Times certainly are a-changing!

            And not always for the best:  along with the Big Smoke Folk come all their faults, particularly alcohol consumption and methamphetamine use, an illicit market that soon has its own local suppliers and dealers.  The farmers who haven’t sold up and sold out watch their world disappearing in front of their eyes, powerless to stop the rot.

            The Carlton family is a case in point:  Jim Carlton has been farming the area all his working life;  now his son Jack is doing the heavy work and cheekily trying to make the big decisions without consulting him – so what if he drops off to sleep in the hayshed sometimes – he’s still there to do his share of the milking and if anything needs fixing he’s right there.  Jack never was any good with mechanical things.  Jim’s wife Di hasn’t been too chipper lately, though:  her ticker’s been playing up, she needs an operation.  Still, Jack’s not ready or experienced enough to take over the show yet (even though he has his own family and house down the road):  nah, Jim won’t be able to retire for a while yet.  It’s a shame his other two kids, Jack’s twin sister Rachel and second son Willy aren’t interested in the farm – Rachel has a high-powered legal career but only visits when she wants to go running, and Willy has worked very hard at being the family Black Sheep:  he is a recovering P addict.  It’s enough to make ya wonder what bloody life’s all about, doesn’t it?  Jim certainly doesn’t have a clue.

            Ms Came guides us expertly through the experiences of her great short story cast of protagonists; we see through their eyes the sad and inevitable effects of ageing, the irrevocable changes wrought on their beautiful environment by ‘progress’ and greed as opposed to need;  and the ever-hovering threat of climate change, all here in this wonderful microcosm of Kiwi country life.  SIX STARS.