Carl Nixon (1) (1967–)

This story is set in New Brighton, Christchurch. It opens at the close of 1980. The South shore is still a small coastal community, on a spit. When four days before Christmas, a teenage boy discovers the body of a seventeen year old girl washed up on the beach, it has a huge impact this small close-knit community.
The book is narrated by a friend of the boy. He and their group of friends become obsessed with the death of the local girl and set up their own investigations to try and uncover who would have committed this heinous crime. The book alternates between the ensuing months and twenty five years later. it considers the impact that this event had on their own lives and also looks at the events of the year 1981,i.e. the controversial Springbok Tour, which divided our nation. I
This was Carl Nixon's first novel and he continues to impress me with his ability to depict a time and place and accurate portrayal of people.… (more)

(8.5)I have had this on my wishlist for so long and what a captivating read it proved to be.
Elizabeth Whitman is a nurse in the city of Mansfield (aka Christchurch) in 1919. Her nursing career began in London during the war and it is there she met her husband, a fellow NZer, Johnny. They soon realised their love for each other and quietly, hastily married. Johnny returns to the conflict. When Elizabeth discovers she is pregnant, she returns to New Zealand to her parents. In the closing weeks of the war, Johnny is declared missing in action leaving Elizabeth and 4 year old son bereft but hopeful.
Her experience nursing soldiers leads her to caring for another private patient, Paul Blackwell. Paul refuses to answer to his name as following a serious head injury while fighting he has lost all memory. He can recall from awaking after the incident but nothing prior to this. By Elizabeth's acceptance of the situation she gains his trust. However his wife seeks a psychiatrist who declares him in need of hospitalisation and he is committed.
The story is told in a linear fashion, interspersed with the author's voice explaining the origin and the various settings, as well as the story that Elizabeth is telling to her young son to help him accept his father's possible, probable death.
I finished this book with a tear in the eye. It is beautifully told. This New Zealand author continues to impress me and I can't wait to see what his next book will be.… (more)

As the novel opens, three children are waking up to the catastrophic accident that will shapet the rest of their lives. Their parents, who just moved to New Zealand, had been touring the country when their car careened off a cliff in a remote part of the country, killing them both, along with their infant daughter. The resourceful Katherine helps her two injured brothers climb out of the wrecked car to find shelter and wait for the authorities to come find them. They never do.

But a man does appear, who takes them to a broken-down farm where he lives with a woman who makes healing potions. Maurice's injured leg begins to heal, but poor Tommy has suffered a brain injury that never will. Katherine and Maurice are required to work around the farm to pay for their care, room, and board. They are effectively captives.

Meanwhile we learn about the dead mother's sister and her efforts to find the family. Maurice's remains are found after four years, older than when the car crashed - what happened to him in all that time? We seesaw back and forth between her quest and the lives of the children at the farm.

This is ultimately a story about survival and about what makes a family. It's uncomfortable at times (and I dislike captivity narratives on the whole) but is quite engaging. And the landscape really comes to life.… (more)