Something for the Birds

This autobiography of a well-known New Zealand artist covers the first half of her life. It's full of interesting material - she grew up in Timaru, not far upcountry from Janet Frame's Oamaru, and readers familiar with Janet Frame's work and life may find a number of echoes here - but Fahey doesn't have Frame's facility with narrative, and the telling of her story is so jumpy that it's often hard to work out who is doing what with whom where. Still, it's worth seeing past the disjointed narrative for the picture this book paints of growing up Irish Catholic in mid-20th Century New Zealand.