MYSTERY DRAMA YABA BADOE True Murder (Jonathan Cape, 0000
Ever attempted to get inside the head of an adolescent girl? It's a veritable minefield. Yaba Badoe achieves it effortlessly. however, in this tale of Ajuba, a Ghana-born youngster who rather unhappily moves to boarding school in Devon, and quickly falls under the spell of the sassy and ever-fascinating American Polly Venus. Initially suspicious of each other, the pair unexpectedly connect when a teacher puts the two newcomers together. Childhood games and typical pre-teen scraps ensue, until an unsettling discovery in Venus' parents’ attic one afternoon leads to an obsession and a secret mission with tragic consequences. Peppered with dark twists and turns, we gain compelling insights into the twosome’s troubled pasts and family life as the story - and the girls’ fragile emotions -
unravel.
Badoe captures the complexity of these characters perfectly, while giving readers a strong sense of the intensity of this life-changing relationship. A clever yet subtle storytelling technique hooks you in from the opening paragraph and keeps you gripped, and the accomplished documentary filmmaker turned novelist’s descriptions are rich, colourful and poetic throughout; certain sentences, for example, often demand a second or third glance, just so you can relish the rhythm and flow of these carefully considered constructions over and over again. lmbued with a real warmth and penned with striking insight, this debut offering is a captivating take on young friendship and the perils of love. A difficult subject matter, beautifully rendered in Yaba Badoe's capable hands. (Camilla Pia)
SOCIAL DRAMA DARIN STRAUSS More Than
It Hurts You
(Atlantic) 000
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MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU
on. l3 N .0 :Irrg‘tuss
If you're in the mood for a brisk. entertaining read. More Than It Hurts You isn't it. If your interests lie in the inner workings of indiViduals and relationships. however, this is an in- depth study of exactly that. Josh, Don, and their son, Zack. appear happy until a Visn to casualty leads to Don being suspected of having Munchhausen's Syndrome by Proxy. Zack is taken into care and legal proceedings follow while Josh ponders Dori's innocence and the doctor has her professional and personal conduct queshoned.
While not hard gorng. exactly, the novel pointedly raises issues of medical ethics. sooal responsibility. race and media manipulation. Strauss allows hardly a plot point to pass
32 THE LIST 5—19 Feb 2009
Without milking it for his debate. Though the issues are interesting. it's a slightly heavy— handedapproach that gives the impression of informing us what to think rather than leavrng us to draw our own conclusions from the story. (Kate Gouldl
PSYCl-lODRAMA AMY
MACKINNON Tethered (Orion) 0..
The most remarkable aspect of Tethered. Amy MacKinnon's debut novel about a iiiortician drawn into the hunt fora missing child. is that the central character. Clara. an isolated. damaged woman, who devotes herself to beautifying the dead and cultivating her secret garden, is so difficult to physically picture. Yet her fragile emotional state is sensually ever-present. often overpoweringly so. in the smells, tactile encounters and
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unspoken, inhibited des:res she resists at almost every turn.
The reality of her closeted interior life. far more so than the attendant plot about missing children and a paedophile ring, makes for a stealthily compelling meditation on love. loss and duty. Tethered's ending, a somewhat forced compromise of whodunnit thriller and ghost story can only disappoint. but in Clara. MacKinnon has created an original heroine whom you suspect Will return in further mysteries.
(Jay Richardsoni
FANTASY DRAMA MARC PHILLIPS The Legend of Sander Grant (Telegram) COO
Sander Grant is a giant. but that's no surprise because he comes from a long line of giants. The Grants have been cattle ranchers in Texas since anyone can remember. and the locals have gotten used to their ten- feet-tall. seven- hundred—pound frames. Blending a kind of magic realism with epic lrvmg-esque American yarn-spinning. this debut novel immediately draws you into its strange world where giants descended from angels live amongst humans and where a young Sander grows up
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wrth the pressure of knowuig he's different from his classmates in many ways,
Marc Phillips has a great turn of phrase. has created some fantastically memorable characters and his sheer chut/pah pulls off a somewhat ridiculous plot involving a spiteful God, With everything at stake for Sander and his family. tensions escalate to a critical point. but the relatively lacklustre ending detracts a little from the great work that has gone before. A fine debut nonetheless. lDoug Johnstonei
BLACK corveoy DUNCAN
SARKIES
Two Little Boys (John Murray: 0...
Flight of the Conchords fans will take delight in this dark. twisted and idioticaliy funny novel from fellow Kiw: Duncan Sarkies. a sometime writer on that show. When the feckless Nrge knocks down a Norwegian backpacker.
he calls his best mate Deano for help But disiiiemtiering and disposing a backpacker is Just backdrop for the real drama of their on again, off again, somewhat creepy friendship. Dix/ided into prose front both characters. their differing perspectives contrast in hilarious and heart tending ways. Deane, who has convrnced himself that he isn't gay is insanely pr ssessive over Nige. whereas Nige is too hapless to do anything
about it.
The ultra dry humour relishes in making the mundane significant. toasted sandwiches become SUDJGCI of tears of rage. and emotional blackmaH is as subtle as a rotting corpse. Yet their hopelessness is somel‘ow endearing and with skewed logic Deano and Nige become unlikely characters to root for. lEmma Lennoxl
5 POPULAR SCIENCE BOOKS David Balnbridge Teenagers: A Natural History This vet from Cambridge writes about teens as though they were animals (in a nice way), providing biological, anthropological and cultural reasons to explain their behaVioural patterns. PortobeI/o.
Michael Brooks 13 Things That Don't Make Sense Subtitled: 'The Most Intriguing Scientific Mysteries of Our Time'. Profile. Sharon Begiey The Plastic Mind The concept of neuroplasticity suggests that our brain can re-set itself to help humans recover from strokes. make them happier and defuse someone's OCD. Constable. Martin Brasler Darwin '3 Lost World Subtitled: ‘How Modern Geology Has Discovered What Darwin Could Only Dream Of '. OUP.
Ori Brafman 8i Rom Brafman Sway The truth about the dynamic forces that frequently derail our decision-making and veer us towards irrational behaviour. ng'n.