James Long: Silence and shadows

By TINA SHAW*

English writer James Long gives us a novel based around an archeological dig, a mystery story which combines past and present in interwoven narratives.

There is the present-day mystery of Patrick Kane, who is in charge of the dig and its bunch of cheerful amateurs, a tormented man who was once leader of a successful punk rock band called Nam Erewhon (geddit?).

"They said he'd been a legend." Kane is haunted by what happened to his wife and son several years before, the knowledge of which he has been trying to escape.

Unsuccessfully. For at the dig he meets Bobby Redhead, who looks exactly like his wife, Rachel, a fact that causes him additional torment. "Her face, through pure accident of history, was the fiercest accusation of all." Kane could easily be an unlikeable character, except that you just know he is suffering for a good reason.

Bobbyis involved in a battle with the vicar to do with the village May Day festival, and the use of a pagan mask called the "Green Man." This subplot ties in nicely with the story of the German Queen who lived in Saxon times, whose grave the diggers are uncovering. This is the mystery of the past: what happened to the German Queen and her family.

The two stories feed into each other: Hild offers a bead to the gods, hoping to conceive a son, and in the present Kane finds it. It is Joe, Bobby's eccentric, elderly brother, who brings both strands together with an ancient song.

Not a taxing read, but the conflicts between past and present are woven together nicely. A novel for anyone interested in archaeology, or simply the gentle uncovering of the past.

HarperCollins

$29.95

* Tina Shaw is an Auckland writer.