1. (NEW) The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Sweeping all other challengers aside is Catherine Chidgey’s latest novel, which tells the mysterious, ominous story of three boys in an alternative 1970s Britain.
It’s a “tense, compelling, genre-fusing book,” said the Listener in its review. “There is the hint of submerged identity; of aspiration and prosperity, rubbing skins with disappointment and neglect; a preoccupation with what is authentic and what is fraudulent; the self and truth only dimly visible … Calling on the deeply rooted psychological power of the storytelling rule of three, the novel is divided into The Book of Dreams, The Book of Knowledge and The Book of Guilt. Three women, Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night, care for a set of 13-year-old triplets in an all-boy’s orphanage. There are three main narrative perspectives: Vincent, one of the triplets; the Minister of Loneliness, a government minister in charge of national care institutions known as the Sycamore Homes; and Nancy, a young girl kept in seclusion by fastidious older parents. This attention to pattern also cooly embodies the quest for order and control, the troubling obsession at the core of the fictional investigation.”
You can read Michele Hewitson’s interview with Catherine Chidgey here.
2. (1) Everyday Comfort Food by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin)
Vanya Insull, aka VJ Cooks, is back to the top of the bestsellers with her third cookbook, focused on satisfying winter meals (you can find recipes from the book here).
Her publisher writes: “Vanya has built her reputation on simple, delicious, never-fail recipes. She knows what works in the kitchen when it comes to feeding a family and how to whip up the perfect dish for every occasion. Following on from the runaway success of Everyday Favourites and Summer Favourites, Everyday Comfort Food celebrates the colder seasons, with warming winter meals and nostalgic treats to keep the whole tribe happy — as well as more of the everyday winning dishes Vanya is known for. From hearty soups, tender slow-cooked lamb and flaky golden pies to sweet delights and indulgent self-saucing puddings, Everyday Comfort Food delivers 70 mouth-watering recipes that taste like home.”
3. (2) No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins)
Sticking close to the top of the list is TV journalist Alison Mau’s book, which promises to be an “inspiring, honest and intimate memoir about family, love and rising from the ashes”.
From the publisher: “From the age of twelve, Alison Mau wanted to be a journalist like her father. He was a beer-swilling, straight-talking Aussie who was rough around the edges but could quote passages of Hamlet at will. He taught Ali everything – from how to skin a rabbit and throw a punch to how to craft a sharp sentence – and she craved his validation as she navigated the sexist badlands of Australian print and television journalism through the 1980s and ’90s.
“From Melbourne to London and Auckland, Ali built a glittering career and became a media darling – until an unexpected call from her sister brought her professional and personal lives crashing together with devastating force. As an investigative reporter bringing New Zealand’s #MeToo stories to light, she had to survey the wreckage of her family myth and ask herself, ‘Am I strong enough?’ and ‘Are there words for this?’”
4. (3) The Bookshop Detectives: Tea And Cake And Death by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin)
The bestselling Bookshop Detectives, owners of Sherlock Tomes, have another mysterious case to solve.
From the publisher: “In this rollicking new adventure, Garth and Eloise (and Stevie) must sniff out a prolific poisoner ahead of a vital fundraising event, the Battle of the Book Clubs. As time runs out and the body count rises, it seems the bad actors are circling closer to the people and places they care about. Could Pinter, the infamous serial killer from Eloise’s past, somehow be involved? And when anyone could be a suspect, how can Garth and Eloise keep their customers, their small town and their beloved bookshop safe?”
5. (4) Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (A&U)
Manapōuri bookshop owner Ruth Shaw returns to tell the second half of her fascinating life story.
The Listener noted: “One could be forgiven for looking at the cover of this book, with its gentle peach and grey-blues, the idyllic three buildings lit up like little beacons, and the title (I mean, little bookshops! How appealing can you get?) and expect a book of lovely little tales about finding the perfect book for the perfect reader. These tales are here, but they are interleaved between chapters of Ruth’s adventures. The main thrust of this book is the second half of her memoir, begun in The Bookseller at the End of the World.
“In that book she detailed her first 35 years, and now she delves into her life from 35 to 78, admitting wryly but without guile that this ‘period of my life was not as chaotic as my first 35 years’. This has to be a good thing. Surviving another 35 years as eventful as Ruth’s first, which included three marriages, several tragic deaths and close encounters with pirates, would take more fortitude than one can imagine – perhaps more than even Ruth has. But she still takes on considerable adventures with gusto in this period, advised or non-advised.”
6. (NEW) Full Circle by Jenny-May Clarkson (HarperCollins)
From the publisher: “From a childhood in rural Piopio, Jenny-May Coffin grew up to achieve international success as a Silver Fern and then began a stellar career on radio and television as a sports commentator and morning presenter. But outward success can often mask inner uncertainty, and Jenny-May lost her grip on the confidence she possessed as a 10-year-old. The ups and downs of a full life, with tragedies as well as triumphs, left her in need of renewal. Here is the story of how she found self-confidence again, reclaiming strength and identity through her connections to te ao Māori, with the support of her husband, Dean Clarkson, and her close ties to her parents and siblings.”
7. (6) See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (Moa Press)
Sydney-set thriller from Auckland writer features a Succession-style family gathering in their retreat after the patriarch dies. Tragedy ensues and, as the Listener noted: “the gilded family will fall … Some of the family will fall by dying. By poison. Others by other methods: loss of reputation, loss of fortune. Those golden sands turn out to be quick sand which swallows nasty rich people up. You have to applaud.”
8. (NEW) 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin)
From the Listener’s review: “Young Obi lives in a decrepit villa at the lowest, flood-prone point of Grey Lynn’s Crummer Road, with his teenage sister, hard-drinking father and chronically ill mother. He’s blessed, or cursed, with a hunger for escape and adventure that video games only partly satisfy – and the arrival of a sinister figure from his dad’s past sets everything on a fateful course.
“A gritty coming-of-age story set against the end of an era, poet and novelist Dominic Hoey’s latest (it follows 2022’s well-received Poor People with Money) is nominally a period novel but far from an exercise in nostalgia. Hoey puts the sensations and smells of Auckland in the 1980s under our fingers and in our nostrils, as facts of life that Obi accepts with the readiness of childhood. The Rainbow Warrior sinking is humorously dismissed on the first page as a non-event, and although the manhunt for the saboteurs provides thematic colour and a moment of fateful idealism later on, the signal is clear: these are people with more immediate concerns on the table.
“Gus, a barely remembered friend from his dad’s criminal past, turns up after release from prison and more or less forcibly joins the household. Charismatic and disarming, Gus feels he’s owed something, and despite his obvious volatility, Obi manages to quickly get on his wrong side after finding a hand-drawn map in his belongings. At various points throughout the novel, he’s also reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Adventure is calling, but in his world of harsh and direct realities, it’s going to exact a price.”
9. (5) Black Silk and Buried Secrets by Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins)
Deborah Challinor returns to the story of her intrepid heroine Tatty Crowe and the world of Sydney’s Victorian funeral business.
From the publisher: “Sydney, 1871. Twenty-five-year-old widow Tatty Crowe is the owner of busy undertaking firm Crowe Funerals. Life and business are good until Tatty notices how many women are dying after unlawful abortions, and after a terrible tragedy strikes close to home, she vows to expose the culprit.
“And then there are the whispered rumours of baby farming. Once again, Tatty sets out to investigate the crisis and finds herself immersed in the dark and sometimes heartless world of paid foster care and adoption. Along the way, she encounters an old foe, and clashes with a new adversary who, it transpires, is far more dangerous.
“From the grim slums of Chippendale and Newtown to the grand houses of Woolloomooloo to Sydney’s rowdy Criminal Court, comes the next chapter in the story of compassionate and clever – but headstrong – Tatty Crowe.”
Deborah Challinor on the research behind her books.
10. (NEW) The Good Mistress by Anne Tiernan (Moa Press)
The second novel from the Tauranga-based author is set entirely in the fictional Irish town of Ballyboyne, and traces the journeys of three women: Erica, Juliet and Maeve. Erica’s husband Rory – also Juliet’s secret lover – has died of a heart attack.
Said the Listener: “Juliet has travelled back to her hometown from Auckland to farewell her long-distance lover, with Ruby, her 17-year-old daughter, in tow. She’s been obsessed with Rory since their early teens when they were part of a tight little friendship gang together with Maeve and Dan. But it was perfect, blonde Erica, attracted to Rory romantically rather than sexually, and not Juliet, he chose to marry … With 50th birthdays looming, all three women are struggling to see a way forward.”
The Good Mistress is “a well-observed and sympathetic portrayal” with pitch-perfect dialogue, mordant Irish wit and humour, and adroit handling of more serious concerns.
Source: NielsenIQ BookScan – week ending May 10.
