Micro review 11 (2024) Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize

 

Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly (Cornerstone)

My shortlist reading continued with this quirky book from New Zealand and it was one that I'd been aware of for a while but kept putting off reading - due to my misconception of the book.

Siblings Greta and Valdin have, perhaps, too much in common. They're flatmates, beholden to the same near-unpronounceable surname, and both make questionable choices when it comes to love.

Valdin is in love with his ex-boyfriend Xabi, who left the country because he thought he was making Valdin sad. Greta is in love with fellow English tutor Holly, who appears to be using her for admin support. But perhaps all is not lost. Valdin is coming to realize that he might not be so unlovable, and Greta, that she might be worth more than the papers she can mark.

Helping the siblings navigate queerness, multiracial identity, and the tendency of their love interests to flee, is the Vladisavljevic family: Maori-Russian-Catalonian, and as passionate as they are eccentric.

Rebecca K. Reilly's exploration of love, family, karaoke, and the generational reverberations of colonialism will make you laugh, cry, and fall for the whole Vladisavljevic bunch.

For some reason I'd become stuck on the first paragraph of this blurb and thought the book was going to be another book in the style of Eleanor Oliphant - a tragic(ish) story with a neurodivergent main character.

The book did have elements of that, but it was more about finding your place in the world when you have mixed heritage, are queer and there are family secrets bubbling under the surface ready to trip you up.

Despite the more unusual New Zealand setting I didn't get a huge sense of place while I was reading the novel, and it didn't grip me - I was interested enough to finish the book, but I wasn't rushing back to find out what happened next, and at times towards the end I got very muddled as to what was going on.

All in all I'm glad I decided to read all of the Waterstones Prize as otherwise this book would have languished on my shelf for years but overall not a favourite.

Book Post

Book Review

All Day at the Movies by Fiona Kidman

I recently received an advance copy of this book from Belgravia Books and once more the format of the novel again worked in my favour.

Kidman's novel The Infinite Air made my top fiction reads of 2016 and I was r keen to read more from this New Zealand author. While being very different indeed to The Infinite Air I really enjoyed this novel.

It follows the life of four (half) siblings over more than 50 years:

When war widow Irene Sandle goes to work in New Zealand’s tobacco fields in 1952, she hopes to start a new, independent life for herself and her daughter – but the tragic repercussions of her decision will resonate long after Irene has gone.
Each of Irene’s children carries the events of their childhood throughout their lives, played out against a backdrop of great change – new opportunities emerge for women, but social problems continue to hold many back. Headstrong Belinda becomes a successful filmmaker, but struggles to deal with her own family drama as her younger siblings are haunted by the past.
A sweeping saga covering half a century, this is a powerful exploration of family ties and heartbreaks, and of learning to live with the past.

What made this book ideal for me currently is that it is told in short, 'snapshot' chapters. We start in 1952 with the Irene's story and then chapter by chapter we follow what happens to the four siblings throughout their lives. Each chapter is self contained and as we jumped through time with each one I found the experience to be more like reading a series of connected short stories featuring the same characters.

The writing style was easy to follow and I really did get the feel that this book could only have taken place in New Zealand - in an indefinable way the location and feel of the country came through. The story details about politics added to this with the detail that absolutely grounded this feel.

The book was very different from the first Kidman I read, much darker and grittier but I still loved it and will be looking out for more of her books as they are published in the UK.

Many thanks to Belgravia Books for sending me the book.