Short takes: Fiction

By MARGIE THOMSON

Sylvia Smith: Appleby House

Strange, mundane and eccentric, this is the story of a year in the life of the author, or, as one reviewer put it, "the ultimate diary of a nobody", adding: "compelling reading". A mistress of minimalism and personal underselling - refreshing in this age of overt posturing and overblown claims - Smith, aged 38 and with few possessions, limited friendships, no boyfriend and no ambition, rents a room in a London house owned by the kindly but businesslike Applebys. There she encounters her housemates, who engage her in their humdrum dramas, in discussions about sharing washing lines, loo paper, gas meters, knitting etc. Trivial, routine, petty - this is life as we most fear it, and are most likely to experience it.

Picador, $27.95

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Jennifer Vanderbes: Easter Island

A treat for those who like a little science and history with their romance, this makes an irresistible story, in the rich setting of Easter Island, in two time frames. In 1912, Elsa Pendleton marries an older professor who promises to take care of her and her mentally disabled sister. The three travel on a scientific mission to Easter Island, just as World War I is breaking out. The island is visited by the German fleet, headed by Admiral von Spee, Elsa's old lover, and Venderbes thus provides a romantic "explanation" for a real-life mystery: the reason for the German fleet's subsequent and disastrous visit to the Falkland Islands, and its defeat there at the hands of the British. This story and its subsidiaries weaves around a further strand set in 1974, involving Greer, a young American botanist, who also visits Easter Island. Easy-reading, enjoyable historical "faction".

Little, Brown, $34.95