Renee Huia: The Skeleton Woman

By SUE YOUNGER*

Rose Anthony, reeling from a recent illness and a fight with her lover, finds a baby left, literally, on her doorstop.

The box is addressed to her, but she has no idea who has left it there. During her uncovering of the baby's background and the violent secret that has brought him to her, she discovers some painful family secrets of her own.

Fans of New Zealand playwright and novelist Renee will not be disappointed.

Breast cancer, domestic violence, child abuse, false allegations of sexual abuse, infidelity, vigilante action, cross-cultural relationships, family secrets, the absence of peace ... the sort of territory mined in this, her fifth novel, is familiar and rich.

For my taste, though, there are too many issues crammed in, with the result that none is explored in much depth.

For example, we learn in passing that Rose has her own secret about an incident which forced her to give up teaching, but we hear so little about it that something with the potential to be powerfully complex and moving is left vague and under-developed, as are Rose's decision to take vigilante action when her neighbour is noisy, and her battle with cancer.

There are a large number of characters in The Skeleton Woman and, like the themes, too many of them are shadowy.

Rose herself is a great character - fiercely independent, prickly, damaged. Aside from her mother, whom we get to know from flashbacks, all the other characters (her lover, neighbours, friends and family) get no time for development because there are so many of them.

I must also admit to a bit of a problem suspending disbelief with the central story - on finding an abandoned, battered baby mightn't one just ring the police? Or a social agency?

Rose keeps him for several days, gives him a name and rather half-heartedly tries to figure out who may have left him there. This just does not seem credible and could also be construed as irresponsible.

There is some lyrical descriptive writing in The Skeleton Woman.

It is highly evocative and some things are beautifully described, such as the feeling one gets on those days when the news is full of violence and cruelty and it becomes hard to bear.

And I enjoyed Rose's flashbacks to her mother's era and her stories of re-inventing herself as the owner of a second-hand bookshop.

But for me, the book would have been far more powerful had the writer narrowed her focus and covered less ground in more depth.

* $29.95

* Sue Younger is an Auckland documentary-maker.