Names for the sea

In Iceland in winter the surface of the sea freezes but there are people still swimming in the hot pools. In this book, Sarah Moss, writes about a year in Iceland with her young family. The tone is conversational but the content is so informative: ranging from vulcanology to knitting, from poetry to fruit (or lack of), from the financial crash to historic treasures, from bad driving to the Aurora Borealis; all the ups and downs of life made fascinating.

The title Names for the sea is from W.H. Auden's Letters from Iceland written in 1936 and hints at the isolation felt by Icelanders. Moss also found that they were disenfranchised by distance especially aggravated by the eruption of the volcano and its implications for travel. The most heartfelt moments, though, are the personal stories about being in another country, not understanding the langauage and culture but learning so much about people and places and different ways of doing things. And it's so well written.

Iceland is on my visiting list too!

An alternative alphabet

The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate de Goldi is another charming family story for well-read children and adults. Kate de Goldi understands people; 9 year old Perry and her grandmother Honora are special individuals and when they get together they are amusing and charming. In making her own alphabet book Perry chooses "jolly old" for J - an apt play on words. Kate de Goldi has a way with words; the conversations between Perry and her grandmother and between Perry and her parents give insights into their thoughts, feelings and hopes. The perceptive drawings by Greg O'Brien also add humour to the story. Indeed, it is a beautifully packaged little book and worth reading slowly to enjoy all the nuances.

Praised as heart-warming and endearing, this book shows how we can all get along together with kindness, patience and acceptance.

See this interesting article for Kate's experience of trying to understand and accept dementia.

casual or causal?

J.K.Rowling's first novel for adults A Casual Vacancy is so clever. The vacancy on the Pagford Parish Council, politically classed as casual, that occurs on the death of Barry Fairbrother is the catalyst for all sorts of problems and events in the troubled community.

This is a big book with a large cast of characters and an even longer list of social issues. The deceptions and intrigues that unfold during the narrative are circumscribed with past details and reflective comments and are plausible (well mostly, I did have a bit of a problem with the Epi-pen). What really stands out is Rowling's understanding of teenagers and her ability to create lively interesting young characters. Those chararcters' struggles with authority: their parents, schoolteachers, employers, are universal but in this novel at least two of them reach a reasonable resolution. The rest is social realism, some of it quite dark and some of it very worrying. Pagford is a microcosm of a troubled world and worth reading about.

Where would you go?

Looking for a quirky, amusing, contemporary story with a few issues to think about? Where'd you go, Bernadette is it. A mother and daughter story that comments wryly on career parents, elitist education, neighbourly relationships, church going, the weather in Seattle and the ice in Antarctica. Never a dull moment - a fun read, with some great read aloud moments, that satirises many current preoccupations in American society and has a great ending. Enjoy!

Ladies' Litera-tea

The Women's Bookshop annual event with a line-up of local writers and tea tables of delicious cakes is always a wonderful event. Last Sunday's session connected diverse writers: Joan Druett, Joanne Perry, Hannah McQueen and also highlighted the commonality in female experience: Mary Paul, Gigi Fenster, Emily Perkins.

Gigi Fenster opened with the question about what makes a New Zealand book or a Jewish book? Her analysis of the contents of the story and the sensibilities of the characters made me realise that although I like a location I respond to the universal in a novel. The Intentions book is just that, being subtle and thought-provoking.

Emily Perkins closed the afternoon with an explanation of how she wanted to write a life in fiction through feelings and memory. Her descriptive snapshots of Dorothy Forrest through a long and ordinary life, explored in her latest novel The Forrests, show a depth of observation and understanding and reveal the common experiences of sisterhood, motherhood, loving and longing.

The next Litera-tea is on Sunday 4 November at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre, Epsom Girls' Grammar School with Stephanie Johnson, Paula Green, Fiona Farrell, Lynda Hallinan, Xanthe White, Jacqueline Fahey and Kate de Goldi. Tickets from The Women's Bookshop.

Lighten our darkness

The Light Between Oceans by M.L.Stedman is an emotionally charged read with beautiful descriptions of the seascape and skies. It covers the 10 years that Tom and Isabelle lived on Janus Rock as lighthouse keepers. An isolated life for them until a miracle happens and then a wonderful life until reality catches up with them. What happens, how they cope, what decisions they each make, what effect that has on other people is carefully and suspensefully drawn out.
I listened to this novel as an audio book and was completely involved in the characters and their difficulties, commenting out loud at certain events and crying often. Realistic characters included the kind sea captain, Isabelle's puzzled mother and Lucy Grace who is at the centre of the story.
Each character, episode and decision is credible and agonising because of the uncovering of the background and the reasons relating to them. Although the first novel by this Australian writer, this is accomplished and effective writing that engages your attention from start to finish.

See also the full review by Maggie Rainey-Smith 

Good intentions

Question: How have I come to read, in quick succession, three books with male narrators looking back at their lives? and enjoyed them all?
Answer: They are all very well written by perceptive women writers and they include some authentic character development.

I have already written about The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The beginner's goodbye and recommend them as highly readable.

The third title is by emerging New Zealand writer Gigi Feinster and is firmly located in our environment. The Intentions Book refers to the log book that trampers complete to inform others about their journey through the bush and their expected arrival times. Rachel is overdue and we wait,with her Father, brother and aunt, for news. During the tense waiting time everyone is reminiscing but we come to understand best her father Morris's story as he deciphers his past to consider what is happening in the present.
This is a first novel but the writing is polished and poignant. I'm looking forward to further novels from this Wellington writer.