Barbara Anderson: Collected Stories

Barbara Anderson fans will undoubtedly relish this new publication, gathering together as it does work from her previously published collections. The majority of the stories hail from I Think We Should Go Into The Jungle (1989) and The Peacocks (1997). There is also a smattering of stories from Glorious Things (1999). The only new works are three uncollected stories, tacked on at the end.

The author of Portrait of the Artist's Wife, Anderson is at her best writing about the tightwire of relationships. As is the nature of story collections, some stories appeal more than others.

Shanties is an excellent tale about a woman who has left her husband and is living in a caravan park. "The new persona which must be created, the screen relit behind which I dance." Snapshots of a past overseas trip hint at unresolved problems. When the husband turns up, wanting her back, Julie's new-found sense of self threatens to implode.

In Living on the Beach, an older woman takes her elderly father to stay at a friend's bach. The father is a real character: "He had an infinity of small sounds to express things he couldn't be bothered saying." A rather lonely figure, Mary swims every day, "her square figure encased in a bathing suit aglow with hot flowers." It's a relief when she strikes up a friendship with a bloke along the beach.

The Westerly concerns regret and an older couple who run a themed motel. Glorious Things looks at the frailty of love and hope. Clive, a mummy's boy, is in love with a dressmaker who, it is hinted, has had an unfortunate fling.

Tuataras is about a brother and sister. Rhona, who as a young woman had left for post-war England, has recently returned to New Zealand to live with her brother. His boring contentment is contrasted with her early promise and current despair.

The Peacocks portrays a young woman whose earlier trauma manifests itself in an obsession with peacocks. It's a brief story, but deftly handled.

The Grateful Dead is of course not about a rock band, but a predictable story about a family friend who fancies a girl's mum.

Anderson offers a cheerfully domestic world, even when unpleasant things happen. A stoic kind of Kiwi attitude seems to prevail: her stories often signal that no matter what happens, you make the best of things.

* Tina Shaw is Writer in Residence at Waikato University
* VUP, $29.95