Rebekah Palmer: The thirteenth life of Frank Finnigan

By PENELOPE BIEDER

It's surprising to find that two flawed (almost macho) men are the stars of 32-year-old Wellingtonian Rebekah Palmer's first novel. But then you discover that she does flawed characters exquisitely well, happy to let them have their secrets, their moods, allowing them to revel in their self-absorption.

Martin Wrightson, the central figure in this clever novel about self-discovery, needs to do some work on himself. And, of course, it's far too late for grumpy old Frank Finnigan to change his ways.

Martin is a young academic, nervously launching into a major literary biography of a famous New Zealand writer, Frank Finnigan, a good 13 years after he did a thesis on the man. And Frank, hiding behind clouds of pipe smoke in his study, is a grouchy, blaspheming poet, best-selling novelist and ex-journalist, living in considerable style in Wellington with his shy, retiring wife, Connie, a Russian.

Palmer (daughter of Geoffrey - there, I've said it) has written a most promising first novel, one whose purpose, essentially, is the search for truth, which makes its inevitable secrets and self-deceits all the more alluring.

Martin discovers that writing a biography is about fighting chaos and trying to bring structure and order to his work. To this end there is rather a lot of sorting and filing and setting up boxes for photographs and diaries done in his study, all ploys to delay the inevitable moment when he must sit down and do the work.

One gradually realises the true meaning of the book's title. Martin is slowly drawn into Frank's life, and through vivid descriptions of events such as the Wahine tragedy, he learns about his subject, and learns that the very nature of biography is ultimately frustrating - Palmer quotes Mark Twain: "What a wee little part of a person's life are his acts and his words! His real life is led in his head and is known to none but himself."

Sometimes Palmer is guilty of telling, not showing, providing perhaps a small surfeit of detail on the mechanics of putting a book together.

This is a tiny grizzle because her novel is a very satisfying read, and it's fun trying to guess who some of the colourful peripheral characters may be based on.

Martin is married to charming, green-eyed Alice and there is a small son, Lance, but they, like Frank's Connie, are deliberately left to loiter on the edge of the action, and this lends strength to Palmer's central theme of the gaining of self-awareness - something that cannot be taught (even, or perhaps especially, to the brightest writer) but must be learned.

Penguin

$27.95

* Penelope Bieder is a freelance writer.