Parrot Heaven
by Jessica Howland Kany
Maudie’s back! Maudie. You know, the one who ran pushing a pram containing her possessions down the South Island, crossed over to Rakiura, and stayed.
Some years later she’s still there, having married and put the pram to more appropriate use, twice. So are many of the other Stewart Island residents – Vil, Dogbox and Clutha, Snatchblock, Strom, Pete, Sally – a whole island full of oddbods. Plus an evil goat called Bathmat, with Moji the parrot’s footprints stamped indelibly on the house on Penguin Lane.
It pleases me no end to think a community of such oddball characters live in this country – must take another trip to the far south!
The island hasn’t changed much. The running tracks aren’t as pounded this time, but there’s plenty of movement between museum, library, pub, and wharf as Maudie’s life revolves around parenting, wood-chopping, books, and solving the odd mystery or two. Throw in childhood bullying at pre-school level, silicon toe protheses, rats eating [censored], multiple munted cell-phones, cuneiform lettering and bird-tracks, notions of immigrants from space and a doughnut-shaped earth, with much discussion of The Epic of Gilgamesh. If all that and more is enough to send you racing to board the ferry to Rakiura, a warning – watch out for bollards and marlinspikes.
The author’s skill has incorporated into early pages of the text all necessary information from the previous book about Maudie and mates [A Runner’s Guide to Rakiura, see FlaxFlower review December 2022], so this one can stand alone – but it’s much better to do yourself a favour and read that first.
The prose is lively throughout, particularly when the dialogue between the locals is peppered with colloquialisms and crammed with references to various things and happenings, seemingly incidental when reading but which come together in time.
At one point, when reading, Maudie thinks “Boats, storms, dreams. Hot guys with axes. What’s not to like?” It could well describe Parrot Heaven.
by Jessica Howland Kany
Maudie’s back! Maudie. You know, the one who ran pushing a pram containing her possessions down the South Island, crossed over to Rakiura, and stayed.
Some years later she’s still there, having married and put the pram to more appropriate use, twice. So are many of the other Stewart Island residents – Vil, Dogbox and Clutha, Snatchblock, Strom, Pete, Sally – a whole island full of oddbods. Plus an evil goat called Bathmat, with Moji the parrot’s footprints stamped indelibly on the house on Penguin Lane.
It pleases me no end to think a community of such oddball characters live in this country – must take another trip to the far south!
The island hasn’t changed much. The running tracks aren’t as pounded this time, but there’s plenty of movement between museum, library, pub, and wharf as Maudie’s life revolves around parenting, wood-chopping, books, and solving the odd mystery or two. Throw in childhood bullying at pre-school level, silicon toe protheses, rats eating [censored], multiple munted cell-phones, cuneiform lettering and bird-tracks, notions of immigrants from space and a doughnut-shaped earth, with much discussion of The Epic of Gilgamesh. If all that and more is enough to send you racing to board the ferry to Rakiura, a warning – watch out for bollards and marlinspikes.
The author’s skill has incorporated into early pages of the text all necessary information from the previous book about Maudie and mates [A Runner’s Guide to Rakiura, see FlaxFlower review December 2022], so this one can stand alone – but it’s much better to do yourself a favour and read that first.
The prose is lively throughout, particularly when the dialogue between the locals is peppered with colloquialisms and crammed with references to various things and happenings, seemingly incidental when reading but which come together in time.
At one point, when reading, Maudie thinks “Boats, storms, dreams. Hot guys with axes. What’s not to like?” It could well describe Parrot Heaven.
Review by Bronwyn Elsmore
Title: Parrot Heaven
Author: Jessica Howland Kany
Publisher: Rakiura Books
ISBN: 9780473766061
RRP: $38
Available: bookshops
Author: Jessica Howland Kany
Publisher: Rakiura Books
ISBN: 9780473766061
RRP: $38
Available: bookshops
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