Fight Night, by Miriam Toews.

 

            9 year-old Swiv (an abbreviation never explained) lives with her actress mother in Toronto.  Swiv’s Grandma has recently come to live with them too, which is handy because Swiv has recently been expelled from school for being recalcitrant, incorrigible and impossible in the classroom.  Fair enough.  The break will do everyone good – you know:  clear the air, calm the waters (for her teachers), that kind of thing, the only disadvantage being that Grandma has a severe heart condition (Swiv is the custodian of Grandma’s myriad medications:  she knows to the minute what should be taken when), and Swiv’s mum is rehearsing for a stage play, even though she is hugely pregnant.  Life and its problems has become ‘very complex’ to say the least and, as part of a grandmotherly stab at home-schooling, Swiv has been instructed to write a daily letter to her absent dad.  According to mum and Grandma, he is off fighting as a guerrilla for some obscure foreign cause, so he must be kept up to date with news from home.

            And that is the heart and soul of this lovely story – Swiv’s daily version of life and love with the two most important women in her life – mum, who is on a short fuse a lot of the time – not good in Swiv’s opinion for Gord, the mysterious occupant of mum’s womb – Swiv is really looking forward to being a sister – and Grandma, unfailingly optimistic despite her many health problems.  It has to be said that daily life with Grandma is never dull, from watching their favourite basketball team on TV to meeting up with Grandma’s old friends (and they really are old!), to deciding to take a trip to Fresno, California, ‘The Raisin Capital of the World!’ to visit Lou and Ken, two of Grandma’s many nephews, whom Swiv is shocked to find are a couple of old Hippies with long hair.  Lou prefers to walk everywhere – it clears his head – and Ken has  a girlfriend called Jude who likes oil massages with Ken,  an incomprehensible reason for using oil in Swiv’s opinion;  regardless, they are both thrilled to see their beloved aunt and make their visitors hugely welcome – until a visit to Grandma’s friends for lunch at a local rest home takes a very serious turn, and their time in the Raisin Capital of the World is cut short because Grandma decided that she could still do a high kick for her friends – with predictably disastrous results.

            Swiv’s letters to her dad (and we find out the real reason for his absence) become a marvellous chronicle of familial love, secrets laid bare, and a hymn of praise for humour, resilience and resistance in the face of adversity:  Swiv is unforgettable and it’s a shame she is confined to just one book.  SIX STARS.      

              

 

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.

                  

 

Before the Rising, by Keryn Powell.                Young Adults.

 

 

           How many visitors to the beautiful New Zealand East Coast city of Napier have had their photos taken next to the lovely statue of Pania of the Reef, legendary sea-nymph who defied her people for love of Karitaki, a handsome human, only to have her love betrayed and tragedy ensue, but not before having a child.  In Maori legend the descendants of this union still exist, as Keryn Powell’s debut novel attests, and it is up to them to prevent their world from certain destruction.

            And that’s not so easy when you don’t even know you’re a descendant!

            Eighteen-year-old Rebecca lives with her adoptive mother Mary, a midwife at the local hospital.  She has just finished high school and is trying to decide what career options appeal the most – hopefully, something connected with the sea, for which she has a great love.  She is excited too, because her best friend Polly’s older Marine Biologist brother Martin is back in Napier trying to finish his thesis for his PhD;  he has asked her to be his assistant for a week as he studies pods of dolphins and other sea life on a chartered boat – how lucky is that?  What a great start to the holidays, and Rebecca cannot deny that Martin is even more interesting than the creatures of which he is so knowledgeable – until she realises that another ‘crew-member’ is Jessica, Perfect Jessica, she of the gorgeous looks and figure, and Rebecca’s long-time bully and tormentor. 

            It will obviously be another of those weeks.  Rebecca will just have to bite the bullet:  so much for her timid feelings of attraction – Jessica will be all over Martin – he doesn’t stand a chance!

            But the very opposite happens, and Rebecca finds that her natural swimming and diving skills in the water, especially near Pania’s reef, introduce her to a people she has never known before until they decided to reveal themselves:  her own Sea-people, relatives of whom she would never have been aware, had they not shown themselves.  And they revealed their identity because the world as we have always known it, is in mortal danger – from the Rising.  The implacable, unstoppable rising of the sea-level everywhere, resulting in terrible coastal destruction and huge loss of life, thanks to unscrupulous trickery and misinformation by WeatherTech, a huge international profit-driven firm now established in New Zealand:  only Rebecca as a direct descendant of Pania, holds the key (which she doesn’t even know she has) to averting tragedy.

            Ms Powell takes us on a wild but importantly credible ride with the Sea-people, Kaitiaki (guardians) of an environment the human race has so shamefully desecrated.  And her great affection for Napier and its still-beautiful coast and wondrous wild-life shines;  she has done her city proud.  Not every ‘t’ is crossed at the conclusion of this great story – can this mean there will be a sequel?  Hope so!  FOUR STARS.         

 

Eddy, Eddy by Kate de Goldi.

 

  

          Teenager Eddy Smallbone, orphan, lives with his uncle Brian (unkindly called Brain by Eddy, for Brian’s absurdly knowledgeable vocabulary) in Aotearoa New Zealand’s South Island city of Christchurch.  Christchurch has recently been devastated by a huge earthquake which reduced the city to ruins and killed 185 people:  recovery of any kind will be a long-term process, and Eddy is not doing so well at it.  He hates his life with middle-aged bachelor Brain, despite Brain legally adopting him so that he wouldn’t be lost to the family, thereby changing Brain’s life plans irrevocably;  he hates the Catholic secondary school he attends and manages to get himself expelled after organising a ‘survey’ proving (he said) that two thirds of the school’s pupils didn’t believe in God.

            Yes, Eddy is an angry young man, and his attempts to make sense of his life so far are causing distress to the people who love him the most – Brain, and Brain’s eclectic and ‘catholic’ variety of friends, which include a disgraced Catholic priest, an atheist union organiser and Eddy’s godmother Bridgie, proud lesbian companion to the atheist – and, as much as all these loving, well-meaning people irritate him, they are the only constants in a life which seems to have little purpose – unless he finds one.

            And that is what this marvellous story is about:  Eddy’s attempts to carve out a different future for himself, beginning with a pet-minding business that he starts through word-of-mouth advertising that inadvertently turns into minding the children of the pets of one particular harried and divorcing family as well.  He is surprised to find that he has some success at it, having a natural affinity for animals which seems to go down well with the kids, too, especially when they meet Mother, a male cockatoo belonging to a nun (!) called Sue who has just had a hip replacement.  BUT!  The very best thing to happen is the return of his beloved ex-girlfriend Roberta – but for how long?

            For Eddy has more than family and religious problems to contend with, if he can’t face up to the fate of his very best friend.

            Kate de Goldi is queen of the marvellous metaphor and a superb writer, marshalling her dazzling array of characters with great humour and wit. Her skilled and beautiful language  describes the ruination of a city, its cautious renaissance, then the return of that most elusive of feelings:  hope – for all.  SIX STARS.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

Violet Black, by Eileen Merriman.                   Young Adults.

 

            Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand:  the time is the foreseeable future, and a huge new Measles pandemic has swept the region, infecting children and teenagers with deadly accuracy.  Scientific modelling so far has revealed a shocking 95% fatality rate, leaving myriads of families grieving for those they have lost, and the 5% who survive find it a long, hard road back to recovery – until ….. until some of the few survivors realise that they are equipped with a frightening new knowledge:  they can read the thoughts of those who are speaking to them.  They know what those people are thinking – whether they want to know or not!

            Violet Black is such a survivor:  seventeen years old and thankful to be alive, she is nevertheless frightened of her new ability, especially when she learns that all is not above board with the people who are managing her recovery.  In her search for others who share her ‘gift’ she meets teenager Ethan Wright in hospital and, aside from the fact that they find each other irresistible, it becomes obvious that certain ‘authorities’ are very interested in their new-found talents and want to exploit them for their own mysterious purposes.

            This is the first book of an action-packed trilogy that Young Adult author Eileen Merriman has written, and international terrorism is the theme:  it eventually becomes clear – after hair-raising kidnappings and misunderstandings – that the shadowy ‘Foundation’ who, after snatching them from hospital has published false death notices for them, all supposedly suffering relapses of the dreaded M-fever – are the Good Guys:  they want to harness this new talent to monitor people’s thoughts by sending (with intensive training) the Thought recruits to infiltrate various worrisome Far-Right and Ultra-National Groups and Cults, thereby learning in advance of plans for violence and murder.

            All fine in theory, until the first mission:  Violet is sent to Germany – not with Ethan as she’d hoped, but with ex-soldier Phoenix:  they are to get as close as they can to a couple who have a handicapped child – a couple who are planning terrible violence.  Sure enough, everything turns pear-shaped, Violet is seriously wounded by someone not calculated for at all, and tragedy overtakes her in her efforts to stay alive.

            Ms Merriman has done herself and her readers proud here – I already have Book Two ‘Black Wolf’ lined up next. An extra treat, quite apart from the clever plotting and suspenseful action, is her view of Auckland in the not-so-distant future:  everyone gets around in Zubers – and they appear to be free.  That’s my kind of transport!  FOUR STARS.   

 

Violet Black, by Eileen Merriman.                   Young Adults.

 

            Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand:  the time is the foreseeable future, and a huge new Measles pandemic has swept the region, infecting children and teenagers with deadly accuracy.  Scientific modelling so far has revealed a shocking 95% fatality rate, leaving myriads of families grieving for those they have lost, and the 5% who survive find it a long, hard road back to recovery – until ….. until some of the few survivors realise that they are equipped with a frightening new knowledge:  they can read the thoughts of those who are speaking to them.  They know what those people are thinking – whether they want to know or not!

            Violet Black is such a survivor:  seventeen years old and thankful to be alive, she is nevertheless frightened of her new ability, especially when she learns that all is not above board with the people who are managing her recovery.  In her search for others who share her ‘gift’ she meets teenager Ethan Wright in hospital and, aside from the fact that they find each other irresistible, it becomes obvious that certain ‘authorities’ are very interested in their new-found talents and want to exploit them for their own mysterious purposes.

            This is the first book of an action-packed trilogy that Young Adult author Eileen Merriman has written, and international terrorism is the theme:  it eventually becomes clear – after hair-raising kidnappings and misunderstandings – that the shadowy ‘Foundation’ who, after snatching them from hospital has published false death notices for them, all supposedly suffering relapses of the dreaded M-fever – are the Good Guys:  they want to harness this new talent to monitor people’s thoughts by sending (with intensive training) the Thought recruits to infiltrate various worrisome Far-Right and Ultra-National Groups and Cults, thereby learning in advance of plans for violence and murder.

            All fine in theory, until the first mission:  Violet is sent to Germany – not with Ethan as she’d hoped, but with ex-soldier Phoenix:  they are to get as close as they can to a couple who have a handicapped child – a couple who are planning terrible violence.  Sure enough, everything turns pear-shaped, Violet is seriously wounded by someone not calculated for at all, and tragedy overtakes her in her efforts to stay alive.

            Ms Merriman has done herself and her readers proud here – I already have Book Two ‘Black Wolf’ lined up next. An extra treat, quite apart from the clever plotting and suspenseful action, is her view of Auckland in the not-so-distant future:  everyone gets around in Zubers – and they appear to be free.  That’s my kind of transport!  FOUR STARS.   

 

Pieces of Her, by Karin Slaughter – and the sequel,

Girl Forgotten.

 

            It’s obviously best to read Book One first (Duh!), where we meet Andrea Oliver, a 31-year-old college drop-out who is finding it hard to get out of bed, let alone get her life into some kind of order, even though she has an enormously supportive mother who lives and works in a lovely Delaware seaside community as a speech therapist:  Andrea lives above her mum’s garage in a very small apartment – and wishes she didn’t, but can’t summon the will and determination to organise herself away from there and Mum’s loving but smothering apron strings.

            Until a coffee morning at the local Mall turns into a bloodbath, with her life being threatened by a disturbed (I’ll say!) eighteen-year-old with a gun:  two people die in the carnage, but her mother, in an act of impossible bravery, saves her – by knifing the shooter.  It transpires that in the subsequent investigation, Andrea’s mum is the complete opposite to the façade she has always presented to the world, in fact she is in a witness-protection program instituted by the US Marshal Service, part of a plea-deal she made with authorities to incarcerate a band of would-be domestic terrorists many years ago. All were intent on blowing up various parts of down-town New York to protest at the corrupt capitalist world-order.

            Needless to say, Andrea is in shock, and finally gets enough gumption to start investigating the past.  What she discovers will change her life forever.

 

            ‘Girl Forgotten’ starts in a flash-back to the Eighties in the same seaside town that was Andrea’s home:  Emily Vaughn, a hugely pregnant high-school student, is determined to attend the school Prom, regardless of her rich and powerful parents’ orders not to.  She wants to confront her former friends who have all blanked her since she found that she was pregnant, the friends who were known as The Clique, envied, admired, intellectually and culturally superior – they were all going to make such an impact!  Until Emily appeared and embarrassed them, especially their charismatic ‘leader’ Clayton Morrow:  he expected to go farther than anyone – for God’s sake, get her out of here. 

            Emily’s naked body is eventually found in a dumpster.  The murderer is never found, and The Clique disbands, all going their separate ways, until Andrea Oliver, newly graduated as a US Marshal, is sent to the town to protect the late Emily Vaughn’s mother, a prominent Supreme Court Justice, from recent death threats.  Yes, Andrea has finally gotten herself together;  she has discovered some terrifying secrets about her origins, but they have energised and given her focus at last, and Emily’s cold-case is just one of several mysteries she wants to solve.

            This is the first time I have read anything by Ms Slaughter, and I greatly admire her ability to keep the many and complicated threads of her plot powering along at a mighty rate.  The suspense almost never flags, except for a time just before the end of ‘Girl Forgotten’, but that’s a small quibble when viewed overall.  She is an immensely enjoyable and entertaining writer and deserves her best-seller status.  FIVE STARS EACH.