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Author does story justice

27/11/2015

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The Many Deaths of Mary Dobie 
​by David Hastings


  A recent edition of the Taranaki Daily News (November 5, 2015) reported that renewed interest in a national day of celebration of the events of Parihaka, on that same day in 1881, was gaining momentum.
   Instead of Guy Fawkes Day, it was suggested a celebration of an important turning point in New Zealand's history – a landmark movement and event that exposed the conflicting imperatives of both Maori sovereignty and European superiority, be the focus of commemoration. The era of the hungry 80s is, of course, full of important stories to be told.
  These stories are explored by author David Hastings in The Many Deaths of Mary Dobie, a book that frames the murder of real historical figure – artist Mary Dobie – within the context of simmering Māori-Pakeha relations.
    The premise of the story – that Mary's body has been found, her throat slashed while walking to Te Namu Bay at Ōpunake – is scaffolded by building tensions over Parihaka. The author weaves historical narrative into the plot, and Dobie is positioned as a pivotal character.
    She is strongly independent, artistic and adventurous. She “never allowed conventions or stuffy Victorian customs to inhibit her and she wasn't about to be corralled behind high defensive walls on account of some fear that might be more imagined than real”.
    With a connection to the Armed Constabulary, with her brother-in-law stationed in the nearby redoubt, there left a question: was Mary's death politically motivated? During the later trial it was found that she had threatened to report her attacker to the “soldiers”, and perhaps he panicked at the ramifications of this and carried through with murder. Furthermore, did Europeans in the settlement need confirmation for their beliefs that the Māori at Parihaka needed suppression, with the murderer exposed as local Tuhiata?
    Hastings unravels the tale with ease, yet the the story is underpinned with reference to primary source material, and the inclusion of some of the sketches executed by Dobie. Not surprisingly, Dobie, owing to her role as artist for Graphic, sketched numerous works on her three-year sojourn in New Zealand.
    As a plot device, the central event of the murder is a means to tell the wider story of race relations in the nineteenth century in the Taranaki, but the character development is also solid; believable characters set in a descriptive and real Taranaki landscape.
    The Many Deaths of Mary Dobie would interest a number of readers; those obviously interested in the Long Depression and New Zealand race relations, but also people interested in regional history and social nuances of the time. Of course crime and punishment in our history is also a drawcard. The research for this book is extensive.
    ​The book also perhaps lends more weight to the date of November 5, as a date for reflection on the events a year after Dobie's death at Parihaka. These are our stories and Hastings does them great justice.

Review by Katherine Stewart
Title: The Many Deaths of Mary Dobie
Author: David Hastings
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 978-1-86940-837-4
Available: Bookshops
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Novel for young readers recommended

21/11/2015

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Hieroglyph
by WJ Scott


  The story in Hieroglyph is set in both New Zealand and Australia, though mainly the latter. The book has black and white, and colour illustrations, including a whale that moves through the pages.
   I thought it was a very good novel and I would really like to see the second book in the series.
   Hieroglyph is about a 13 year-old girl called TC who has the ability to touch something, like a hieroglyph, and see its story, or history. Because of this she has to wear gloves all the time. The plot is that TC’s uncle Max, who is an archeologist, has discovered an old pyramid from ancient Egyptian times. The problem is, though finding the pyramid was a good thing, proving it is real and not just a fake will be hard. But TC knows the truth and wants to prove that her uncle is right. That’s where her special gift comes in handy.
   I would recommend this book for ages 11-14, though people above the age 14 might enjoy it as well, if they are interested in other books like this one. Even though the story is about a girl, I think boys would enjoy it as well.
    I think you should definitely give this book a try.

Review by Zoë
Zoë is a student of intermediate age
Title: Hieroglyph
Author: WJ Scott
Publisher: Copy Press Books
ISBN: 978-0-9941256-5-1
Available: Available: ebook via Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016IZYDE4
print book via
http://shop.realnzbooks.co.nz/shopn/spi//books
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Novel challenging and rewarding

17/11/2015

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TRUST NO ONE
by Paul Cleave


    Jerry Grey is a successful crime writer, when, aged forty-nine and about to publish his thirteenth book, he is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. In the opening pages of Trust No One Jerry attempts to confess to the murder of one of the characters in a thriller that he wrote many years ago. The poignancy of this first scene is heightened by Jerry’s failure to recognise his own daughter and his incomprehension of why he is now living in a nursing home.
    With great skill Cleave takes us inside Jerry’s head as his dementia progresses. From mild but disturbing memory lapses – how could he forget his wife’s name? – through a series of journal entries as the disease advances, we share Jerry’s confusion and his states of anger, bargaining for a reprieve and denial, as well as moments of absolute lucidity. This makes reading Trust No One both challenging and rewarding. What is a real clue to the plot? What is just a misleading diversion thrown in as a symptom of Jerry’s illness?
   Trust No One is far from being an easy read because just like Jerry, the dementia patient, we are forced to keep a grip and focus, focus, focus (as Jerry says) on what is happening and to readjust our view as the plot unfolds. I had to constantly remind myself that if this is what the degeneration of a mind suffering from Alzheimer’s is like, then as well as a complex plot, Trust No One is also a valuable insight into the disease. At times it may seem that Cleave has used Jerry’s Alzheimer’s as an excuse for some very peculiar behaviour, but any reader who has ever had contact with a dementia patient will know that Cleave’s portrayal of Jerry is very realistic.
    Even as the body count mounts, and there are hints that Jerry really must be a killer, his sorrowful journal entries somehow kept me liking him and sharing his hope for a reprieve. At this point, my only disappointment with Trust No One is that the police are portrayed as apparently unaware that there is a serial killer in action. Trust No One is set in Christchurch but the city’s identity is so understated that it could be anywhere at all.
   The story picks up pace in the latter half of the book and as it hurtles towards the end, suspense and horror are offset brilliantly with moments of wit and comedy. Provided the reader is willing to take up Cleave’s clever challenge to live Jerry’s Alzheimer’s, the twists and turns in the plot make Trust No One a thriller.

Review by Carolyn McKenzie
Title: Trust No One
Author: Paul Cleave
Publisher: Upstart Press
ISBN: 978-1-927262-64-1
Available: Bookshops

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Novel provides insights

11/11/2015

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First Names Only
by Elaine Blick


    In the 1960s, to be unmarried and pregnant was to face shame, scandal and disgrace, also an appalling dilemma. There was no government benefit for unmarried mothers and while some parents would support their daughters others were unwilling or unable to do so, and few employers would take on a woman with a child born out of wedlock. Many girls had no option but to give up their baby for adoption.
     First Names Only is a novel in which Elaine Blick tells a story of 18 year-old student, Janice, who finds herself in just such a situation. While Janice has the choice of keeping her baby, with the support of her mother, she has to consider what course would be in the best interests of the child. With considerable pain she elects to give the child up to give it the chance of a better life than she could provide, while she completes her education.
   After leaving Sunnyvale home for unmarried mothers in Auckland, Janice finds employment in the children’s ward of a psychiatric hospital and realises that this is the work she wants to devote her life to. Instead of returning to university she trains as a teacher, specialising in children with disabilities. With a rewarding career and a happy marriage, life seems to be going well for Janice but further heartbreak lies ahead. However, those of us who like happy endings (which is most of us, I fancy) and a story that tidies up loose ends, will not be disappointed.
     The Author is clearly familiar with the background of her topic – her mother was a longtime staff member at Childhaven, a home in Epsom for unmarried mothers, and this no doubt informs the narrative. However, I did wonder at times if all the girls and staff would have been quite so ‘nice’. A little earthiness would have added some realism to the story.
     Throughout the book there is a strong thread of Christian belief in the power of prayer which could possibly jar on some readers, and a little sharpness to cut through the sweetness of the contents would, I feel, improve the book. Nonetheless, the novel provides an interesting insight into the problem of unmarried pregnancy and adoption in the 1960s.

Review by Margaret Davis
Title: First Names Only
Author: Elaine Blick
Publisher: Elaine Blick
ISBN: 978-0-473-3334-8
Available: Bookshops
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A flair for plot

3/11/2015

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Corrupted on the Cote d’Azur
by 
Richard Donald

   A brother and sister from New Zealand, he a sous chef and she, it seems, an incorrigible seeker after the high life, are caught up in a web of dangerous intrigue.
   The action is set mainly in the south of France, with excursions into Paris and Italy. There is a strong element of ‘innocents abroad’ and ‘Famous Five’ in this book. The two somewhat naïve antipodeans and their French friends meet frequently in cafes and other places to plot the next steps in their quest to locate and bring to justice the irredeemably nasty villain of the piece. There are thefts, home invasions, kidnappings, car chases, glamorous and amoral women, meetings with both helpful and obstructive policemen, corrupt local politicians, and brushes with the mafia. There is also tax evasion, a murder and evidence of child pornography.
    The author is clearly familiar with the settings for the story, and frequently introduces authenticating detail concerning architecture, local food specialities, the merits of various hotels, and so on – to the extent that at times the book could almost double as a tourist guide. There is also plentiful use of French terms and phrases, often with accompanying, and sometimes cumbersome, translation or interpretation.
     Much of the plot is unfolded through explanatory dialogue as the protagonists decide on their tactics and discuss their successes and failures, but at other times details concerning what happens are sketched in as narrative. An uneven but generally fast pace is set from the start and more or less maintained throughout.
    Underlying all the derring-do is the much darker question of human selfishness and the propensity to give way to temptation. Essentially, as the title suggests, the story deals with corruption – both physical corruption in the question of the spread of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/Aids, and moral corruption resulting from a hunger for wealth and a lust for power. These are seen as an almost inevitable result of the systems by which the western world operates – systems that reward rather than punish the greedy and ruthless.
    There is much of what one would expect from a high-voltage adventure yarn in this book – violence and tension, sex and subterfuge – though the sex and violence in particular are treated in a rather coy manner. There are also characters in the story for whom the reader can develop and maintain some sympathy, just as there are others who are beyond redemption or who prove in the end to be unworthy. A heavily loaded epilogue attempts to tie up the numerous loose ends, but also creates some more. We learn that ‘good’ has some victories, but it does not triumph; and apparently in only one instance does love (there are two incipient romances) conquer all.
   While there is throughout an uneasy co-existence between the narrative and the author’s penchant for instruction and explanation, Donald does display a flair for plot, and a clear desire for the reader to get a true feel for place.

Review by Tony Chapelle
Title: Corrupted on the Côte d’Azur
Author: Richard Donald
Publisher: Mary Egan Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-473-33195-5
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