The Party Line
By Sue Orr (Penguin Random House)
Aucklander Sue Orr is a writer of taut, terrific short stories and her first novel has grown out of one that appeared in her debut collection. It's a Kiwi-as tale set mostly in a rural farming community in the early 70s. It opens in 2014 as farmer's daughter Nicola Walker drives back to her childhood home for a funeral. On the trip she is haunted by memories of the past and a guilty secret she has carried into adulthood. She recalls the winter a new sharemilker arrived on her family's farm with his intriguing, headstrong, glamorous daughter Gabrielle. Gabrielle is trouble; that's what all the local parents say. As the two become friends Nickie finds herself for the first time questioning the way things have always been. Gabrielle leads, and she follows, and they fall into an adult world whose subtleties they don't understand. Orr's forte is careful, elegant prose and in The Party Line she shines light on the toughness of rural life, the claustrophobia of small-towns and the confusion of being a teenager. This is strikingly good New Zealand storytelling.
Primates Of Park Avenue
By Wednesday Martin (Simon & Schuster)
When Wednesday Martin moved to New York's Upper East Side she discovered a new tribe of women she struggled to fit in with. From organising elitist play-dates for their kids to shoving each other out the way with their statement handbags, this tight group of moneyed mothers proved difficult to make any headway with. Until Martin began looking at them in a different way, using her background in anthropology and primatology, and suddenly so much about their behaviour made sense. Sometimes the science feels a bit forced but the comparisons between this Lululemon-clad troupe of yummy mummies and a bunch of baboons proves a surprisingly useful way for Martin to decode their social mores. Plus she shares fascinating details - what it costs to maintain their looks and the anxieties that underpin their glossy lives.
Nadia Lim's Fresh Start Cookbook
(Penguin Random House)
MasterChef winner Nadia Lim has built a hugely successful foodie career. Her latest book hooks into the trend for healthier eating and, as she's a qualified dietitian, she knows what she's talking about. Lim says this is a guide to creating nourishing, healthy meals with an eye to calorie control and portion size, along with suggested eating plans to ensure you get the right nutritional balance. Plus she's teamed up with exercise coach Michael McCormack and designed an exercise programme. Among the 100 recipes are tempting ideas for weekend breakfasts - one-pan Turkish eggs and chickpeas in smoky tomato sauce, for instance - and quick ways to jazz up your weekday scrambled eggs or porridge. Adult lunchbox options include fresh, easy noodle dishes and Middle Eastern-inspired fare. And dinner ideas like pizza with a cauliflower-crust base and an eggplant lasagne keep things interesting.
The Girl In The Spider's Web
By David Lagercrantz (MacLehose Press)
Highly anticipated and controversial, the official continuation of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series by a new author is now a reality. Some will dislike this novel on principle, but those who approach with at least a partially open mind will be pleasantly surprised. It's a very good read and it's terrific to see vengeful hacker Lisbeth Salander back on the page. In The Girl In The Spider's Web Lagercrantz does a fine job delving deeper into Salander's enigmatic character, providing more texture without losing the mystery and uncertainty that makes her so compelling. Famed crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist is discussing corporate espionage with a potential source when he - and the reader - is electrified by a passing mention of an anti-social female hacker. The trail leads to a renowned scientific genius, who is attacked the night he is to meet Blomkvist. His work has disappeared and his autistic son is under threat by a shadowy crime cabal. Lagercrantz juggles the players well, threading in social commentary as he builds the book from intriguing to absorbing to a thrilling finish as Blomkvist and Salander battle NSA spies, Swedish authorities, Eastern European gangsters and dangerous figures from the past.
