Bobby Palmer's debut Isaac and the Egg, about a grief-paralysed widower whose life improves when he meets an ET-like creature, was a big hit. The British author's second novel also has the flavour of a modern-day fable. What makes it like a fable is not so much the - yes - talking fox, but more the novel's rhythmic prose and its sense that there can be communication between all living things.
The story centres on the relationship between city-dweller Jack, for whom "finance felt like a calling, the ultimate question to be solved", and his naturalist father Gerry who never leaves Moles End, the remote and ramshackle country home he shares with Jack's mother Hazel and sister Charlotte.
We first meet Jack when the finance sector start-up he works for goes bust. He is devastated but has no one to tell. He lived for work, has no friends and little contact with his, to him, depressingly rustic and unambitious family.
SMALL HOURS
by Bobby Palmer (Headline, $37.99)
Denne historien er fra March 30 - April 5, 2024-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
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Denne historien er fra March 30 - April 5, 2024-utgaven av New Zealand Listener.
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First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.
Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.
Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.
