Flaxroots Productions

Beautifully presented book

12/8/2020

A Lifetime in Galápagos
by Tui de Roy

Tui de Roy was one year old when she was taken to the Galápagos islands by her parents who were seeking a warm place to live a self-sufficient life. She grew up there, she tamed the herons and finches as playmates, the mangroves were her playgrounds, marine iguanas and blue footed boobies her companions, frigate birds and Galapagos hawks circled above her, and seals and sea lions played on the rocky shores. While other children were exploring cities, she walked across the arid volcanic cones, and marvelled at the giant tortoises she met.
When she was eleven she borrowed her father’s camera and began to record her surroundings, and this extraordinary book gives us the record of 50 years of her photos.
The pictures are accompanied by a narrative that explains what is happening in the photos and makes the book far more than just a collection of birds and landscapes. She gives us lessons in ecology and the inter-dependence of species, both on land and under the sea.
Of particular interest are the photos taken from the same vantage point 50 years apart, showing the changes that have taken place, some as a result of natural processes, but some showing the changes that introduced species have made.
Tui de Roy seems equally at home in the water as above it, and some of the best photos are taken beneath the surface. Her encounters with whales, her fruitless attempts to capture a booby at the moment of transition from mastery of the air to mastery of the water (1/2000 of a second) which were not fast enough, her patience following an ancient iguana called Abeulo, for days at a time – all show her love for the animals and her mastery of photography. In the case of the iguana, Tui was cut, grazed and battered by the surf and rocks, but for Abeulo it was part of his daily life and had been for decades.
This is a beautifully presented book, one I am proud to own and will refer to again and again. I consider it would be a marvellous gift for a lover of nature or photography.
The only criticism I have is that I would have liked a map included, because each photo mentions the name of the island it is taken on and I had to open a map on my iPad to follow along. I felt it was important to do this as it was the variation between animals and birds on different islands that was a major factor in Charles Darwin arriving at his theory of evolution.

Review by Harold Bernard

Title: A Lifetime in Galápagos
Author: Tui de Roy
Publisher: Bateman Books
ISBN: 9781988538211
RRP: $59.99
Available: bookshops

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A winning formula

5/8/2020

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While the Fantail Lives
by Alan Titchall

This novel is set mainly in 1962, at around the time the world held its breath as the Cuban Missile Crisis played itself out. As the author reminds us, being a country of relative insignificance half a world away from the place where a nuclear war might well have begun didn’t shelter us from fear of the possible consequences – not even in the remote dam-building settlement just north of Taupo where the action takes place.
Such towns and settlements have been an important feature of New Zealand’s social and economic history (Otago and West Coast mining communities and railway villages of the nineteenth century, for example, and the forestry and hydro settlements of the twentieth), and it is good to find a novel that describes so well the conditions of life in such places.
This particular community is inhabited by a variety of people from around the world – as well as New Zealanders (Māori and Pakeha), the novel features a German and a Russian, Australians, English and South Africans, a Welshman, and a mysterious Harley-riding American. Most of the main protagonists are haunted by incidents and memories of the War, which had concluded only some seventeen years earlier, and which had been one of the principle reasons people found themselves in this hydro town.
In fact, several of those protagonists had shared in frightful experiences during that war, unresolved incidents that come to a head in the course of the story. There is a great deal of coincidence involved in these people ending up together in this little community, but the author has us believing that it is not at all impossible that things could have worked out this way. The actual wartime incidents are revealed mainly in the narratives given by the people involved to the narrator of the story – an eleven-year-old boy called Roberto Smith. They are harrowing incidents, and reminders of the inhuman brutality of war.
There is an element of the other-worldly in the book, centred on the narrator’s attempts to nurse back to health a white fantail he has inadvertently injured (his deep concern at having done so makes for a cracking start to the story). If it dies, he is told, human tragedy might follow. In this regard, a forest-dwelling and possibly malevolent spirit from local Māori lore plays a role in elevating the tension at key times.
All of this amounts to absorbing, exciting reading; but even more rewarding is the deft way that the author draws his flesh and blood characters. Here are people, male and female, we can all relate to and (even in the least likely case) have real sympathy for. They are opinionated, occasionally funny, and they have their weaknesses; but they are always interesting.
The narrator being an eleven-year-old, this novel could possibly be characterised as ‘young adult’ – though certain descriptions and themes might be problematic for some. It is certainly a novel that adults would enjoy. Strong, familiar characters, surprising developments as well as vivid descriptions of ordinary life in a 1960s rural community, and action aplenty – it’s a winning formula.

Review by Tony Chapelle

Title: While the Fantail Lives
Author: Alan Titchall
Publisher: Devon Media
ISBN: 9780473517403
RRP: $24.95
Available: bookshops

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Fast-moving easy read

29/7/2020

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The Air that we Breathe
by Kara Douglas

This is a novel, but closely based on historical fact. It was written in response to the author’s own father dying from mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos fibres while working in the asbestos mines in Wittenoon, a town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
It is told through the eyes of a young Italian man Abele, Maria, and later, their daughter Luciana who along with hundreds of others, were recruited to work in the mine.
   They were promised wages sufficient to set them up for life, had their fares paid to Australia, and provided with a company house in a town built for the mine by the government. They overcame the outback heat, working doubled over in mine shafts one metre high, constantly covered in dust and fibres and built a life for their families. The town grew to 20,000 people, with schools, medical centre and pub.
What they were not told was that the company knew of the dangers of asbestos, and were deliberately ignoring  the safely regulations and the advice of safety and health inspectors in order to make the most profit possible.
The story tells of the experiences of the family while living in Wittenoon and their later life in Perth, culminating in the precedent-setting civil law case, brought by Abele against the owners of the mine.
   Two thousand of the former inhabitants of Wittenoon have died from asbestos disease, making this town one of Australia’s worst environmental sites. It reminded me very much of the Erin Brockovich story.
The author’s strategy of telling each chapter in the person of one of the characters makes the book a fast-moving and easy read, a sad tale of deceit and unnecessary  death.
It is well worth the price.

Review by K.H.B

Title: The Air that we Breathe
Author: Kara Douglas
Publisher: Redust Publishing
ISBN: 9780473507756
RRP: $34.95
Available: bookshops

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Memoir is a riveting read

22/7/2020

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Ripiro Beach – A Memoir of Life After Near Death
by Caroline Barron

At some time in our lives we wonder what is our destiny? Is it ingrained in our DNA or is it nature, nurture or free will? These are the questions that haunted our author Caroline Barron.
Caroline has a typical life of a child growing up in New Zealand but on her 20th birthday her life is shattered as her beloved father dies, and she fears for herself, that she too may die at an early age.
Move forward a few years to a life-threatening haemorrhage following the birth of her second child. But for the skill and fast action of her medical team she survives but is left with so many questions of her own mortality.
Combined with undiagnosed post-partum depression, it leads the author to find solutions for her fears and anger by delving into her whakapapa for answers.
As in so many families, her extensive research leads her down many branches of her family.
It was at this stage that I documented her family line to keep track of it and found it absolutely fascinating. It was like a thrilling detective story and I sat for hours reading avidly as the puzzle pieces untangled and fell into place.
Not only was the author finding her family she was also trying to make sense of her own emotions that were threatening to derail her.
It is a story of family love, strong friendships, courage and determination and even if the text ends with a wonderful conclusion the reader is left with the feeling the author will continue with her research to tie up loose ends.
The book has many photographs and the chapters are short enough to encourage the reader to read “just one more chapter” before they turn out the light.
To quote Dame Fiona Kidman, Ripiro Beach is “a very brave book,” "riveting, at times confronting, moving and passionate.” I totally concur with that.

Review by Merilyn Mary

Title: Ripiro Beach – A Memoir of Life After Near Death
Author: Caroline Barron
Publisher: Bateman Books
ISBN: 978-1-98-853820-4
RRP: $34.99
Available: bookshops

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For motoring enthusiasts

15/7/2020

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Automania: Iconic New Zealand Collections
by Don Jessen

This book has 320 pages of stunning photos and car descriptions, taken at some of New Zealand’s best private and public automobile collections.
Instead of just seeking out the public collections Don has enlisted the help of four friends who tracked down the private collections we are privileged to see here, along with a few others that are open to the public. The locations of the private collections are not stated.
Much credit for making the book the stunning visual feast it is goes to Marilyn Jessen who has taken most of the exquisite photos.
There are about 24 collections covered here and the variety and scope of these is vast, ranging from American muscle cars, through traditional English saloons and sports cars, to rare military vehicles, and a number of beautiful motorcycles. Each collection has an overview of what cars, or other vehicles, are included, then some are singled out for closer examination, with photos and mechanical details, and the vehicle’s history.
I was amazed at the number of very rare cars that are listed as New Zealand new vehicles, not specially imported. This really demonstrates the international motoring diversity that New Zealanders have enjoyed over the years, and I think that our remoteness, and need to keep vehicles on the road, has served to preserve many vehicles that in other places would be scrapped. Almost all of the vehicles have been restored to a very high standard, and this workmanship should also be a matter of pride to all Kiwis.
Some collections are confined to just one maker, but many are an eclectic mix showing the appreciation of the collector for all types of machinery.
This is a book not to be read quickly, but to be slowly browsed and each chapter savoured several times.
The page layout is landscape A4 instead of the more usual portrait mode, and this makes it easier to include bigger photos. The typeface chosen is clear and the whole book is beautifully presented. It would make a wonderful gift, and I can recommend it to all who have an interest in motoring.

Review by Harold Bernard

Title: Automania: Iconic New Zealand Collections
Author: Don Jessen
Publisher: Bateman
ISBN: 978-1-98-853824-2
RRP: $49.99
Available: bookshop

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A multi-faceted writer

8/7/2020

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You Have a Lot to Lose: a memoir 1956-1986
by C. K. Stead

Christian Karlson "Karl" Stead was born in Auckland. For much of his career he was Professor of English at the University of Auckland, retiring in 1986 to write full-time.
Widely honoured as a ‘titan of NZ literature’, CK Stead’s writings include poetry, short stories, novels, literary criticism and editing as well as a brief statement written on the wall of a Hamilton police cell in the wake of his arrest during the aborted Waikato-Springboks game of 1981.
He has been honoured at many levels: by his contemporaries in a lengthy list of prizes and awards for literary achievement that includes the Katharine Mansfield Menton Scholarship, the Montana Prize for poetry and the highly-regarded Sarah Broom Poetry Prize. He has been honoured by governments of both colours in the award of the Prime Minister’s  Award for both Literary Achievement and Fiction; the Queen’s Medal then a CBE for services to New Zealand literature and, in 2007, membership of the Order of New Zealand. In 1995 his contribution to the international world of literature was recognised in his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, while in August 2015, Stead was named the New Zealand Poet Laureate for 2015 to 2017.
Stead’s claims to ‘titanship’ are therefore well established, for in both range and number, his literary output almost mocks the term ‘prolific’. Of the corpus of nigh on forty  substantial works following his academic foundation stone, ‘The New Poetic’, many are written in consecutive years but none except for ‘The Singing Whakapapa’ is separated by more than two years from the preceding one.
With reference to his literary upbringing “The University of Auckland” writes Stead, “. . . first educated me, then employed me . . .” and  his association with it involved him in the world of those giants of a distinct, if inchoate, NZ literature: Duggan, Baxter, Curnow, Shadbolt, Frame, among many others and, over and above all, in the strength of his friendship with the Godfather-like Frank Sargeson. One notes, in passing, that this was also a world of Renaissance-type involvement with plays, opera, concerts, music and the art of McCahon and Henderson, and is redolent of a time when “education” was concerned with more, perhaps, than today’s Google-dependent linearity.
There is, though, a sense in which if it didn’t happen in Auckland, it didn’t happen; an example is a Sargeson-like nod towards the writing of Ronald Hugh Morrieson that acknowledges the rural voice without mentioning Hawera, where Morrieson lived, worked and died.
Stead’s doctorate was undertaken at Bristol and, in the milieu for literary criticism established by his supervisor there, LC Knights and by FR Leavis of Cambridge, he learned to take no prisoners, and this has been seized on by his detractors. Indeed, Diana Wichtel once quoted Frank Sargeson as saying to Stead, “I can’t imagine a worse fate than to be reviewed by you.”
In his later years Stead himself acknowledged the truth of this, but in his defence, if one were asked to choose only one salient feature of this memoir, for me it would be Stead’s total dedication to the literary world and all facets of it. In this sense, a thing ‘is’ or it ‘is not’ and it is never Stead’s way to encourage doubt whether reviewing, critiquing, editing or travelling across the world on the literary scent regardless of anything else.
He is as ruthless with himself and his failings, though, as with any writer he reviews. In his recounting of his own moral shortcomings, and in particular of two bouts of marital infidelity, we see his conviction not only that the truth is unflinchingly valid but a dedication to a ‘warts and all’ picture that would earn a nod of approval from Cromwell himself. By the same token, that honesty of conviction underpins his views on the treatment by their own society of Australian aborigines, the Vietnam War and the Springbok tour of 1981.
So what does this, the second of his memoirs, reveal of Christian Karlson Stead? Growing up in a NZ suspicious of anything that didn’t conduce to the battle for world rugby hegemony against the Springboks, his early yet enduring commitment to a NZ literary nationalism contrasts oddly with a discernible homage to the academic world of the UK; one (he notes) in which the Commonwealth nations were “clamouring to be free” but “seldom wanting complete severance”. He is revealed as a good friend to the wide network of contacts, colleagues and acquaintances with whom he maintained a truly impressive correspondence. Never one to hold a grudge, he participates in the cut-and-thrust of literary criticism on the basis of an unvarying ethic that “Business is business”.
Turning to the book itself, one or two infelicities that may perhaps be whimsical bons mots are revealed on pages 164 and 165 where Stead writes of a “. . . priests’s surplus” and of the “Security Intelligent Service”. More important, however, is the omission of an index that would greatly assist the to-ing and fro-ing involved in keeping up with the vast network referred to in my preceding paragraph, and this omission is the more surprising given Stead’s scrupulous footnoting throughout.
Overall, ‘You Have a Lot to Lose: a memoir 1956-1986’ is an important look at a seminal period in New Zealand’s literary history through the eyes of one of its great movers and shakers.

Review by MJ Burr

Title: You Have a Lot to Lose: a memoir 1956-1986
Author: C. K. Stead.
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 9781869409128
RRP: $49.99
Available: bookshops

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Narrative of a politician

1/7/2020

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Bill Birch: Minister of Everything
by Brad Tattersfield

Is this a biography or not? Some recent books claiming to be written as a biography are more like political memoirs, as told to a sympathetic former staffer.
Brad Tattersfield is certainly a former staffer and an admirer, and this book is described as Bill Birch’s story. Nonetheless, the author is very even-handed when it comes to examining the political issues of the Birch era, while certain personalities in National governments do receive criticism. This is both a strength and weakness of the book. Being based largely on Bill Birch’s archives, detailed diaries, and more recent interviews, it exposes candid views of colleagues. But political enemies seem to become caricatures: Ruth Richardson as an ideologue and Winston Peters as a shameless populist; with Birch and Jim Bolger as sensible pragmatists.
In fact, with regard to economic policy in the 1990s, Richardson and Birch ended up having more continuity than change, at least on the substance of policymaking. Maybe the difference in style mattered at the time, but not in hindsight.
Tattersfield admits, late in the book, that Birch became a fiscal conservative/economic liberal through his exposure to Treasury officials over time – so even if he didn’t start as a purist, he was eventually converted. But Birch also worked officials hard, convening policy meetings after midnight. The interaction with officials, and attention to policy detail, was Birch’s strength compared with the big personalities that preceded him as finance minister. While he wanted to move away from personalised economic branding – especially ‘Rogernomics’ – he seemed to lack the salesmanship needed to sell controversial policies. But he nevertheless presided over very controversial policies, from Think Big energy policies in the early 1980s, to the 1991 industrial relations legislation, where the role of trades union were no longer recognised.
So this is the major question for the book: how did a conservative, moderate politician become identified with policies which appear to be diametrically opposed, at least philosophically, and within such a short period of time? Of course, there are many versions of the economic upheavals of the 1980s, and the polarising politics that ensued, as well as a consensus among commentators on the framework. Birch certainly accepted Richardson’s Fiscal Responsibility Act which, combined with the 1989 Reserve Bank Act, circumscribed the role of ministers and Parliament, but which also reduced the accountability of officials.
Tattersfield addresses the underlying conflict in economic approach mainly in an analysis of the Think Big projects completed in the 1980s. Some readers may not be aware of the deep energy crisis in the 1970s, and policy reactions that included the so-called ‘carless days’. The massive financial cost of Think Big was just part of the contentious policymaking. The 1984 Labour Government appear to have engaged in a fire sale of the new energy assets, even before they had really been up and running, losing billions in the process. But if this appears to have been an example of fiscal vandalism one still has to wonder why the privatisation programme continued under the 1990 National Government, despite being very unpopular.
The book is less analytical, on the whole, and more of a chronological narrative. It is easy to read if one is familiar with the political events of the time, but becomes rather disjointed as the book goes on, and especially after 1996 (when MMP is introduced). Bill Birch is rather obviously a figure associated with the previous electoral system, if not the bad old days.

Review by Simon Boyce

Title: Bill Birch: Minister of Everything
Author: Brad Tattersfield
Publisher: Mary Egan Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-47350197-6
RRP: $40.00
Available: bookshops

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Absorbing read does not compromise

24/6/2020

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The Radicals
by Marolyn Krasner

Disruption vies with respectability.
‘D’ dedicated 25 years to Pussy Power activism and disruptions – breaking up gatherings of homophobes and causing havoc at, for example, the opening party of a hair removal salon – and she was good at it. But one misguided move and now she’s on probation.
D hates being on probation but she’s trying hard to stick to the rules because now that she’s baby Frida’s co-mum, she has so much to lose if she misbehaves. Then one day she sees her estranged father on TV and all her good intentions begin to unravel.
The Radicals is, however, much, much more than a tale of reckless decisions, new parenthood and revenge. Krasner has created in D a protagonist who draws her readers into a world which we all know exists but may not have experienced. From how D reacts and interacts with her co-probationists to how she copes with homelessness and being in a relationship with her boss, The Radicals is an absorbing read.
Krasner tells D’s story the way it is, without compromise to respectability or reader sensitivity, so readers may gasp or squirm, but skillfully used shots of brusque humour offset the discomfort of D’s constantly smouldering rage and resentment.
D’s world view is complex but at the same time very focused. Although she is perhaps more radical and more outspoken than many people would dare to be, there is something of her in anyone who has ever felt strongly enough about even one social issue to take action for change.
The Radical’s striking cover tells the story better than any back cover blurb. This is a book with absolute 21st century relevance. The blurb sent out by the author didn’t initially appeal but I’m glad I took up my own post-Covid-19 challenge to myself to read something different: thank you Marolyn Krasner for The Radicals.

Review by Carolyn McKenzie

Title: The Radicals
Author: Marolyn Krasner
Publisher: Radical Press
ISBN: 9780463078624
RRP: $24.99
Available: via distributor Nationwide Books; www.marolynkrasner.com

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Delightful characters in fantasy adventure

16/6/2020

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Alphabet Resort – Elastic Island Adventures Book 4
by Karen McMillan

It is refreshing to find a series of fantasy adventure novels set in the South Pacific and Alphabet resort fits the bill.
Four children Jed, Kiri and twins, Ethan and Emma accompanied by Emma’s sophisticated cat Blong, are able to travel to exotic destinations by means of an elastic island which propels, or ‘pings’ them rapidly to various tropical destinations. Along with characters they met on previous adventures they’ve been invited to stay at Alphabet Resort and attend the wedding celebrations of King Shiny and Princess Topaz.
In the time leading up to the celebrations the children pursue their own interests. The boys develop an interest in the shape of Wombat poo and enjoy the theme park across the causeway while Kiri goes for a swim.
Emma’s literary interests take her along to a building re-naming, for which the names of two authors had been submitted, and a popular selection is made.
Blong the cat is very supportive of Emma and on occasion coughs up Blong-A-Grams of topical interest as well as communicating the answers to riddles in ransom notes when Princess Topaz is kidnapped.
Other delightful characters pop up. There’s Wombo the Wombat searching for love and Mrs Quokka quoting her Quokka logic not to mention the frivals adding to the confusion in the hunt for Princess Topaz. And is there a hint of romance in the air . . . ?
Many children will find the inclusion of the map of Sunset Island helps them orientate their imaginary view of the island setting and is a useful addition to the publication.
In common with many modern publications the gutter in the middle of the book is on the narrow side which makes the book a little awkward to hold open.
This is a delightful and entertaining book for 7 to 11 year olds with well drawn characters moving along at an agreeable pace and extending their imagination into a healthy, imaginary fantasy world.

Review by Irene Thomas

Title: Alphabet Resort – Elastic Island Adventures Book 4
Author: Karen McMillan
Publisher: Duckling Publishing
ISBN: 9780473503543
RRP: $19.99
Available: bookshops

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Easy to read, entertaining novel

5/6/2020

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Forgiven
by Geoff Lawson

In this book the reader will find all the elements of a fast-paced adventure story set against a backdrop of instant and all-conquering young love.
It is set mainly in the Cape Colony and Orange Free State, as the chief protagonist has joined the first contingent of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles who have answered the call of the ‘motherland’ to help suppress the uprising that becomes the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. The main action takes place over a short period of a few months at the beginning of the war, during a time when the British have suffered a number of defeats while trying to come to terms with the guerrilla tactics adopted by the Afrikaner forces.
Those parts of the story that are not set in South Africa take place in South Taranaki (especially Patea) and Whanganui. These describe the first meeting between the hero and a wilful and very pretty young girl, daughter of a wealthy department store owner. A few years later when they both reach young adulthood they almost instantly fall in love. Her father does not at first approve. She also has a ne’er-do-well brother. These two complications add further twists to the plot. A misunderstanding between the lovers leads the hero to enlist with the Mounted Rifles.
The hero is one of the classic kind. During his war service he is ordered to undertake various missions including the capture or killing of a dangerous saboteur working for the Boers, and the protection of a beautiful but arrogant young English aristocrat who has become stranded dangerously close to the action and must be returned to her husband and safety. He also, on his own initiative, puts his life on the line to warn an approaching British contingent of an ambush that has been set up by the Boers. The action is fast-paced and involving.
The hero proves to be very attractive not only to his love back in Whanganui, but also to various young women who become part of his experiences while at war. There is the beautiful young aristocrat, for example (who loses her distaste for one she at first perceives as being much below her), and the attractive daughter of English settlers in a remote town in which he is stationed for a while. There is, too, a lovely blonde Afrikaner girl who takes care of him when he is captured by a Boer guerrilla group.
This is very much a plot-led novel, and it certainly maintains reader interest. The author clearly has historical knowledge of features of life in the late nineteenth century, especially in Whanganui, though the language used in sections of the dialogue, and some of the terms used, are occasionally somewhat anachronistic. On the other hand, his detailed knowledge of firearms and of New Zealand railway history certainly add authentic touches.
The service of the first of the ten contingents of New Zealand Mounted Rifles that participated in the Second Boer War provides a particularly interesting backdrop to a novel of this kind, and the author deals with the issues involved with considerable sympathy. This adds another and welcome dimension to the book; but its major attraction to the reader will be the exploits of the hero, and the devotion of his sweetheart. He answers the call of duty even though it means leaving his love behind; but for this, he is forgiven.
This novel is both easy to read and entertaining.

Review by Tony Chapelle

Title: Forgiven
Author: Geoff Lawson
Publisher: Geoff Lawson
ISBN: 978-1500-193812 Amazon ASIN: B00LU777R6 (ebook)
RRP: Kindle ebook US$2.99. Paperback $30 including postage in NZ
Available: paperback from Geoff Lawson (geofferylawson@gmail.com to order)
Web page: geofflawson-forgiven.simplesite.com

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Beautifully presented book

A winning formula

Fast-moving easy read

Memoir is a riveting read

For motoring enthusiasts

A multi-faceted writer

Narrative of a politician

Absorbing read does not compromise

Delightful characters in fantasy adventure

Easy to read, entertaining novel

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