The Free-Range Bookclub
Bookclubbers without boundaries in Nelson, New Zealand
Greta & Valdin – Rebecca K Reilly
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS
Greta and Valdin are brother and sister, both gay, with mixed heritages and living together in Auckland attempting to navigate life and all its triumphs and tribulations. Greta is a student/English tutor with a misguided crush on friend and colleague Holly. Valdin is a television presenter still in love with his ex, Xabi. They are both anxious and curious with a strong sense of self-awareness, examining their own actions and keeping each other and all the members of their family honest.
The book studies the social behaviours of people, not just in romantic and familial settings but also in regards to sexuality, ethnicity and mental health. These behaviours are built into the story so deftly they don’t feel moralistic, but do softly alert the reader, with a cringeworthy humour, about misconceptions and misguided comments that feature far too often in our lives and have a bigger impact than some realise: for example Valdin is asked to lead a karakia because he’s “the Maori one”; most people don’t even try to pronounce their long Russian surname (Vladisavljevic); others presume Greta is bisexual rather than gay because she is pretty and cares about her looks.
Setting is also given prominence, with many landmarks and recognisable features in Auckland and at Auckland University referenced – even the winking Santa on the Farmers building gets a mention.
I keep walking until I get to one of my favourite cafés, all full of normal morning people not humiliating themselves, then I walk into the liquor store next door, where I stand in the beer fridge until the man from behind the counter comes to check that I haven’t died.
❝ Both Greta and Valdin and all their family members are well built characters. Everyone has an interesting habit or relationship or identity and everyone is memorable, which I often find is not the case in large family sagas. The book is full of people and brimming with personality and activity. I felt like I was a part of the family involved in all the dramas and gossip and joys.
What I loved most about this book was it felt very much like a New Zealand book, one that represented a large cross-section of people who call themselves Kiwis, and which laid out in black and white our values, actions and thoughts (both good and bad) as a nation of people. – Rachel
❝ I loved the chaotic, loving energy of Greta & Valdin and while my age is more aligned with their parents I enjoyed living vicariously through twenty-somethings trying to live their best lives in the 2020s. This book was genuinely funny and I laughed out loud a few times which let’s be fair is pretty rare when watching a hilarious TV series let alone reading a book.
Maybe, just maybe, things were tied up a little too tidily at the end, but in saying that there was still a good zinger or two there keeping me on my toes. I feel like the word ‘rollicking’ is a bit too much of a cliché, but there you go it was a rollicking read and I bloody loved it! – Suzy
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Published 2020
Victoria University Press
352 pages
The Matriarch – Witi Ihimaera
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Jo
Tama Mahana is a grown man analysing the mystique and ambition of his grandmother, the matriarch of his family. But to truely appreciate the paths she has taken, he must study Māori mythology and New Zealand history. Tama is introduced at the beginning but is really only one thread of the book that holds together the various true stories of cultural clashes, wakapapa, and politics of the country and its people. It is clear the novel is steeped in true history.
All truth is fiction, really, for the teller tells it as he sees it, and it might be different from some other teller.
❝ This book weaves a fictional story together with historic Māori figures and their plights which provides the reader with some education around many issues of the Māori and Pākehā history. I learnt more about why land is so important and significant to Māori and the devastation that colonisation has caused. I never appreciated the extent of their spiritual connection to the land.
My favourite parts of the book however were the fictional parts. I particularly enjoyed the dialogue between characters and the bantering between Tama and his sisters. Ihimaera seems very skilled at bringing his characters to life; they certainly seemed like realistic people to me. – Jo
❝ An absolute masterpiece of a book. Honestly at times it was a bit of a slog to get through, but on reflection during our bookclub discussions I wondered was this because I was putting my Pākehā lens onto what was a Māori story? A challenging reflection.
The hour by hour account of the Te Kooti attack on the colonising European settlers on the East Coast was one of the most gripping passages of writing I think I have ever read. It will stick with me for a very, very long time.
I look forward to reading the follow-up novel The Dream Swimmer where hopefully we will learn more about the impact of the matriarch’s devotion to Tama. I am desperately hoping the outcomes will be only positive for his whānau. – Suzy
❝ It’s been a long time since I have reflected on NZ’s History. Witi Ihimaera’s (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) The Matriarch gives us a mix of historical facts, fiction and mythology from our past which I found fascinating. It wasn’t until the end of the novel I could see the importance of the historical facts that seemed very long and arduous at times. Although the matriarch and other characters were fictional I felt I had a glimpse into what life was like in a traditional Māori family of the time. – Jodie
❝ The retelling of colonial wars and land grabs can be a controversial topic. I think what Ihimaera has done in The Matriarch is effective as rather than be moralistic, he has portrayed the truth of the brutalities from both sides. Plus he has etched into the reader’s mind the importance of connections to the land, of spirituality and of histories, which provides context to the outcomes that eventuated for Māori. There are parts of the book that are long and arduous, others that are lively and full of dialogue, but many which are grounded in truth. For a real understanding of NZ history it is worth reading this book slowly and carefully. – Rachel
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Published 1986
Heinemann
456 pages
A Good Winter – Gigi Fenster
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS
Olga is an older woman who has taken on the role of carer to her friend Lara, Lara’s grieving daughter Sophie and Sophie’s child Michael. The family are extremely grateful for – what appears to be – her selfless assistance.
Olga takes it upon herself to not only care for the baby, but to construct the family’s schedule and ensure it is adhered to, to monitor visitors she judges a bad influence and to scold the local gossips.
However, we the reader, get another version of the truth via Olga’s monologue narration in this psychological character study. From the outset we are privy to her thoughts and justifications which demonstrate a worsening case of obsession and create a real sense of unease.
Alongside the story of Olga and Lara’s family is the story of Olga’s own family, her childhood, her relationship with her mother, and her alienation from her brother and father.
However, Olga is clearly not a reliable source of information, and the reader is left to navigate her variations of acceptable behaviour and wandering truths as she narrates the stories of her past and her present.
Sometimes I’d feel like I was in one of those arcade games that kids like. Where there’s a queen who needs to be protected from killer insects.
❝ The characterisation of Olga in A Good Winter is addictive. Though the only character who receives this indepth treatment and despite nearly everything that she tells us being negative, unhinged or really annoying, the book and the story is not at all depressing to read. Instead I found it enthralling to discover what depths her over-active imagination would go to next. I imagined myself as one of the characters, rolling my eyes behind Olga’s back after another outburst about inane things like when and how to replace light bulbs.
The spiralling of Olga’s neuroses and the sense of impending doom are nicely built. We know there’s going to be some kind of crises as a result but what exactly that was going to be kept me guessing. – Rachel
❝ I polished this book off in a day and in the times I wasn’t reading it, it was all I could think about it. The obsessive and compulsive nature of the storyline felt like it had transferred into my real life and I was all for it, although I will put a less concerning spin on it and say that I was very engaged.
If the other Ockham shortlisters are of this calibre then I have some absolutely stunning reads ahead of me.
The author expertly leads readers through this novel with an assumption that not everything has to be completely spelled out and it was absolutely appreciated. My only disappointment with this book is by skimming the blurb on the back and reading the endorsement on the front there was more storyline given away than I would have liked, so I would definitely recommend just diving straight in.
One thing I am kind of happy to be left wondering about though is whether the awful main character was slightly relatable to everyone or just me? – Suzy
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Published 2021
Text Publishing
260 pages
From The Centre: A Writer’s Life – Patricia Grace
READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS
The memoir of writer Patricia Grace
❝Patricia Grace (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Te Āti Awa) is a stalwart of New Zealand literature and someone whose work I have read a lot of and deeply admired. So her memoir was always going to be a hit for me.
Through this memoir, not only did I get to re-live the books I’ve enjoyed and discover more about how they came to be, I also learnt more about Grace herself. In particular how she has been a staunch advocate of equal treatment for all, and of morals in literature. She relays these hurdles with humility and grace and allows the reader to form their own opinions on the events that make up her past.
We learn that as a primary school teacher, Grace moved about the country, working in many small, rural settings. From here her desire to write traditional stories for children was harnessed. Yet not only was she happy to have been published, she insisted on Te Reo versions too, refused to add glossaries of the Reo words in the English versions and challenged the damaging stereotypes of Māori she found in other published works. This memoir demonstrates how much time and effort she spent in normalising the use of Te Reo Māori in literature and shows we have so much to be grateful to her for. Who knows where the acceptance of Reo in fiction would be now if it wasn’t for her standing up for it all those decades ago.
The book is not just about a writer. It is about a woman. And a Māori person. As expected, 80 years lived as all of these things is going to incite many anecdotes that range across the spectrum of emotion. The racism inherent in New Zealand back when Grace was a young woman was at its worst and she relays this, emphasising how it was wrong, yet analysing it so it becomes a learning experience which we can all take from as we hope and strive for better.
The book has beautiful photographs and quotes from her books, too, which reinforce her connection to the language, the land and the people for whom she wrote.
An important book that is much about our history as it is about hers. – Rachel
———
Published 2021
Penguin
305 books
Boys Don’t Cry – Fiona Scarlett
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Jodie
Two brothers in a Dublin tower block battle illness, crime and poverty. Joe is 17, a gifted artist and older brother to 12-year-old Finn. They live with their Ma and Da in a Dublin tower block dealing with all the markers of an underprivileged Irish childhood. However poverty is only one of the predicaments the brothers face in this YA novel.
Their father works for a local gang leader and sometimes brings the violence home to his family. The lure of crime both disgusts and temps his older son.
Then Finn receives a shock diagnosis, testing the family’s ability to cope. Joe is Finn’s rock and struggles to work out how he will support Finn without becoming what many expect him to become. it is fitting that both Joe and Finn are provided a narration duality offering the stories of innocence and injustice and well as those of protection and needs must.
It’s always worse in the dark. The shadows. The echoing noises of misery. The smells smothering you from all angles. The fear of not knowing what you’re going to meet on the stairwell.
❝ I found myself fully immersed in this debut novel by Fiona Scarlett. The dual narrative was a short read that showed us the true spirit of brotherly love. Joe, the older brother, struggled with his own ethics and young Finn struggled coming to terms with his impending mortality. The novel about sibling love, illness, grief and toxic masculinity had the voice of real people which was probably a result of Fiona Scarlett’s experience as a teacher and her extensive research of gang crimes in Dublin. An emotional read that will have you captivated and probably make you shed some tears too! – Jodie
❝ The author successfully conveyed the setting of this novel and her description of the Dublin tower block was evocative and compelling. I also enjoyed following Joe’s story and his ups and downs. Drawbacks for me were the unconvincing characterisation of 12-year-old Finn who felt more like he should have been 7 or 8 years old. I think 12-year-olds are actually pretty savvy. Also there was a massive leap towards the end of the book that made me wonder whether a few pages had been left out from my copy. I am happy to accept though that this is more a reflection on me than the author! – Suzy
❝ Boys Don’t Cry deals with tough subject matters and does so in a raw and emotional manner, with gritty, realistic characters. This book captured me from the start. I even cried at the end, even though it had already been revealed what was going to happen to one particularly character. My only bug bear was in the characterisation of Finn. He seemed somewhat inauthentic with a naivety that didn’t ring true to me considering the environment of fear and poverty that he was growing up in. But overall it was a heartfelt story that I really enjoyed. – Jo
❝ There are certain attributes that appeal to a YA audience and I think Boys Don’t Cry hits the mark with its focuses: a troubled teen, a path to redemption vs the wrong side of the tracks, strong familial ties and a loss to emphasise that it’s okay to express emotion. The expected inevitability, of Finn’s illness and Joe’s future, highlights prejudice and class divides that many live with every day, but it is offset by a glimmer of hope as a promise of what can eventuate with support and good role models. It is an emotional book to read, whatever your age, and packs a lot of punch into a minimum of words. – Rachel
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Published 2021
Faber Faber
256 pages
Sophie’s Choice – William Styron
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Rachel
An aspiring novelist is captivated by a Holocaust survivor and her unpredictable boyfriend
Stingo is a Southern young man aspiring to be a novelist and living off the income from his grandmother’s controversial sale of slaves many years prior.
He moves to New York and there meets Sophie, an Aushwitz survivor and her biochemist boyfriend Nathan who both enchants and infuriates our protagonist. The relationship between the trio is intense and sometimes maddening, with Stingo playing an active part in the emotional aspect of his friends’ courtship.
The current day drama is broken up by Sophie’s extended recollections of the war and her 20 months spent in one of German’s most notorious concentration camps. By making Sophie Polish, the author demonstrates how the Holocaust was a crime against humanity, not only Jewish people.
Despite her already extended suffering, Sophie’s boyfriend likes to, among other heinous things, question her about what she had to do to survive Aushwitz when others did not. Taking the role of Sophie’s newest oppressor, he ensures her state of victimhood and unnatural dependance on him remain.
The author does not use overt horror to ram home his story, rather a snippet told in the briefest of words is often the hardest to read. Characters are convincing, portraying the full spectrum of humanity, from guards evil to those reluctant to hurt; from prisoners who suffered immensely to those who gave up their best friend for an extra crust of bread.
The story of ill-treatment is replicated in other pages of the book by Sophie’s disturbed boyfriend and to a certain degree by Stingo who, as sympathetic and likeable as he seemed, still exhibited a lack of objectivity and a domination of women which unfortunately was common at this post-war time. This is seen right down to the very pages themselves in which Stingo is possessing Sophie by writing about her.
“Those strange creepy people, all picking at their little… scabs,” she had complained to me when Nathan was not around. “I hate this type of”—and here I thought she used a lovely gem of a phrase—”unearned unhappiness!”
❝ There are many good Holocaust novels but for me, Sophie’s Choice is unrivalled. Plus it’s so much more than a Holocaust story. As traumatic as the book sounds – and is – I was gripped by every action and every one of Stingo’s tales. Yes the characters are messed up, but they are drawn particularly well and what I enjoyed the most was observing and analysing their tangled relationship from a social and historical aspect. – Rachel
❝ I found Sophie’s Choice totally enjoyable, though I would recommend that potential readers prepare by investing time and effort into this mammoth book. The relationship between the three main characters is fascinating and I invested a lot of thought into their actions. I felt strongly that Stingo’s lack of action to protect Sophie was totally understandable given that Nathan was such an oppressive and formidable character. – Jo
❝ This was an engrossing story and I was swept up in the present day story as well as Sophie’s extremely grim Holocaust memories. The slow unravelling of both storylines was tense and engaging. A negative for me was that it felt like the character of Sophie was fetishised by the author at times and this made for uncomfortable reading. After learning about the slightly autobiographical nature of the book this became almost repugnant. – Suzy
❝ The first person narrative suited the telling of the story in Sophie’s Choice. I felt like I was sitting next to Stingo as he told me his story – it had a real confessional feel to it. Stingo relayed events in a compassionate and compelling way, with a touch of humour thrown in the mix to offset the trauma. The story unwound steadily, leaving me wanting more as Sophie’s secrets were drip fed to us. I thoroughly enjoyed the characterisation of Sophie, Nathan and Stingo and the complex, frustrating dynamics of their friendship. A great novel on many different levels.” – Jodie
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Published 1979
Random House
562 pages
The Mirror Book – Charlotte Grimshaw
READ FOR BOOKCLUB & NZ BOOK AWARDS
Chosen by Suzy
The memoirs of Charlotte Grimshaw, author and daughter of C K Stead
❝ I can’t lie – I initially wanted to read The Mirror Book for the goss factor, but this memoir is so much more. It’s a personal assessment and investigation into trauma and grief and is communicated with such clarity and insight I almost felt envious of the way the author had so comprehensively gotten her shit together. This book was shocking and a completely engaging read. – Suzy
❝ I find memoirs fascinating, I guess primarily for the nosey neighbour aspect. However, I do find that many memoirs are either written by ghost writers in a matter-of-fact way, or by the subject who may have an interesting story to tell but not the skill to proffer it in the most literary way. However, The Mirror Book was particularly appealing to me because it had all the scandal of a memoir, but also the lyrical prose of fabulous fiction, which is primarily what I read. The psychological and analytical nature of Grimshaw’s thoughts, and the references from her life that ended up in print in both her and her father’s works, are like the best fictional constructs yet really happened to this literary family. This was the perfect mix of fictional prowess and true life story for me. – Rachel
❝ Charlotte Grimshaw had a traumatic upbringing – exciting and stimulating from a reader’s point of view, though it did leave me a little stunned. The Mirror Book was shocking at times, exposing Grimshaw’s dysfunctional family in a way that was fascinating and a little provocative. I kept wondering, why did she write this? Learning it was a sort of cathartic therapeutic process as part of her healing made sense. I found the first section a little rambling and haphazard but overall found it hard to put down. It was thoroughly enjoyable, though it seems there is more to tell and I hope one day she writes a more in-depth account of her childhood. – Jo
❝ I found The Mirror Book a captivating read of a childhood quite unlike any I have known. Charlotte was brutal with her honest account of events, and though at times I felt like she was throwing her parents under the bus, I appreciated her bravery. It was a courageous memoir that was beautifully written by a talented writer. – Jodie
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Published 2021
Penguin Random House
320 pages
2022 – Reading Culture
As an environment where reading is championed and valued, bookclubs provide an encouraging culture of shared learning; of the ability to understand a reality other than our own. Establishing culture is not only an important basis of book clubs but books too, for stories often have a basis formed by societal retellings and enriched historical fact.
Culture breeds culture.
Adding to the culture of our bookclub is the return of one of our founding members. No, Suzy has not relocated back to Nelson, but the Zoom culture of 2020 and 2021 made us all realise we did not need to reside in the same town to benefit from one another’s literary insights. Welcome back Suzy, we look forward to the new and interesting book choices and conversation directions.
And perhaps unsurprisingly our book list this year reflects this hark back to cultural influences, to expanding our intellectual travels at a time when literal world explorations are nigh impossible. With translated works, historical dramas and stories of native culture from several parts of the world, we are feeling a sense of groundedness and connection in our reading list this year.
Here’s what’s coming up:
The Mirror Book – Charlotte Grimshaw
Sophie’s Choice – William Styron
Boys Don’t Cry – Fiona Scarlett
The Matriarch – Witi Ihimaera
Crossroads – Jonathan Franzen
The Lying Life of Adults – Elena Ferrante
All The Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
Colorless Tsukuru & His Year’s of Pilgrimage – Haruki Murakami
In My Father’s Den – Maurice Gee
At Night All Blood is Black – David Diop
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
Potiki – Patricia Grace
2021 – End Of Year Thoughts
Twelve months ago we agreed we were glad to see the end of 2020 but, unfortunately we are just as pleased to say goodbye to 2021. Lockdowns, frustrations and uncertainty have prevailed, but at least books were still being written and published and read. Perhaps it was because we had the time to take note, or perhaps good old-fashioned reading was hitting the popularity stakes over social media, but there seemed to be a plethora of new and exciting books available in 2021, well, more than usual crossing our radars anyway.
We discussed the literary year at our end-of-year dinner, which again, we were lucky to be able to hold. This year we chose Le Plonc in Nelson for some fine French cuisine. Between courses we contemplated our contemporary new fiction focus as of late.
We had began the year with a murder amongst friends, and a novel of warnings, then moved into relationships marred by Roman mythical creatures, imagined murderers, and sisters with confused identities. Accidental communities faced the threat of death, and reproductive control, and the changing of history. The analysis of the modern person was certainly present in these titles and gave us much to critique.
For instance in a year where romance was basically absent from our book choices, our attention was drawn instead to two relationships of a different type, both unusual sibling attractions. July & September in Sisters and Charles & Camilla in The Secret History had complex connections that would keep the most analytical reader occupied!
We agreed Sylvia Plath was the most interesting author, that Bina had too many punchy one-liners to name our favourite and that the books could be summarised by containing a number of slow-burning horrors that gave us many shocking moments of note.
Here are the rest of our bests:
Best character:
Jodie: Esther – Bell Jar
Rachel: Richard – The Secret History
Jo: Vesta – Death In Her Hands
Most memorable setting:
Jodie: Loch – Summerwater
Rachel: Loch – Summerwater
Jo: Cottage – Death In Her Hands
Worst character:
Jodie: Eddie – Bina: A Novel In Warnings
Rachel: O’Brien – Nineteen Eighty Four
Jo: Psychologist – Blue Ticket
Runner up best book:
Jodie: Sisters – Daisy Johnson
Rachel: Sisters – Daisy Johnson
Jo: Death In Her Hands – Otessa Moshfegh
Book of the year:
Jodie: The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Rachel: The Secret History – Donna Tartt
Jo: The Secret History – Donna Tartt
Sisters – Daisy Johnson
READ FOR BOOKCLUB
Chosen by Rachel
Born ten months apart, July and September are almost like twins. They do not look the same, they do not have the same personalties, but they are becoming inseparable and September increasingly exhibits dark influences over July.
Their closeness allows no one else entry into their lives, not friends, not boyfriends, and not their mother, Sheela. The closer she tries to get to the girls, the more September bars her from their insular dynamic. Sheela begins drawing the girls into her fantastical children’s books in order to feel connection to them.
One day there is an incident at school which creates a divide between the sisters. The narrator July cannot understand their shifting bond, nor September’s moodiness. Then, one day, it all becomes apparent.
The look in their eyes when she came across them, the sudden silence that fell and that she could not quite break into. The sound of her banal chatting as she tried to befriend them. Her own children. The things that teachers said about them at school: isolated, uninterested, conjoined, young for their age, sometimes moved to great cruelty.
⫸ This psychological thriller builds tension right from the opening page, slowly but evenly paced so I was wondering what the truth was from the start, and changed my predictions every few pages! In the end I realised I was never going to work out the complex relationships at play. Yet re-reading the opening chapter made me realise the clues were there all along. There is certainly a sense of dread and wonder all the way through the book and the innate feeling that something oppressive and unnatural is lurking in the shadows. I loved this book. Finishing it made me want to re-read it all again. – Rachel
⫸ Sisters had a haunting quality right from the start and my assumptions about the exact cause of the ‘haunting’ were wayyy off track. This was an uncomfortable yet compelling read and I think Daisy Johnson did a brilliant job of getting the reader completely invested before the shocking reveal. Well I found it shocking – more astute readers may not! – Suzy
⫸ Johnson’s story telling was exceptional. I was captivated through out the entire novel. It could get a little weird at times but was quite intriguing as I never quite knew what was going on! Don’t let that bother you, it was a fascinating read. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to try something a bit different. – Jodie
⫸ The tension of wondering what had happened re the bullying incident was nicely balanced with the present story. I was suspicious about July’s activities but didn’t understand how they could be. A brutal situation for all involved with a domestic violence (albeit not in the usual way) theme becoming more and more alarming as the details were revealed. I wish July could have moved on but that wouldn’t have made for a very good ending – the one given was much bleaker and made the book all the more better for it. I enjoyed this book but would only recommend to selected hardened readers! – Jo
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Published 2020
Riverhead Books
224 pages
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