Short takes: Paperbacks

By MARGIE THOMSON

Jenny Haworth: Hobson's Chance

Haworth offers a lively blend of research and imagination in this novel about Captain William Hobson, the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and its implications for Maori and their culture in the early 1840s. What will win her readership, though, is the romantic story of Hobson's sister Anita, in love with an Irish doctor who, wrongly accused of a crime, is deported to Australia. Anita and Hobson meet journalist Thomas Matthews in England and through a bizarre series of events, all three end up in the antipodes. This is history made easy. Research is thorough, but strange inconsistencies of style, a tendency towards melodrama and a certain breathlessness keep this strictly in the light-read category.

Hazard, $24.95

* * *

Panos Karnezis: Little Infamies

Set in an un-named Greek village shortly after World War II, these 19 seemingly unconnected stories are tinged with darkness, magical realism and comedy. The village is about to be swept away by progress and the villagers are revolting against their fate. Characters are as varied as a prostitute, priest, sadistic landowner, doctor, barber - and a centaur, a parrot who recites Homer. Wonderfully insightful about human nature in all its strength and weakness, and the unpredictability of life is reflected in the unexpected outcomes of the stories.

Vintage, $26.95

* * *

Michael Redhill: Martin Sloane

A slithery, mysterious novel about loss and abandonment. Joeline falls obsessively in love with Martin Sloane, a man 35 years her senior - an artist whose work involves arranging found objects in boxes. It's an odd relationship. He won't live with her, or allow her to visit him at his home in Toronto, but nevertheless they endure for several years. And then he vanishes, and she is left with sorrow, like an empty box, at her core. The novel then flashes forward 10 years. There has been a possible sighting of Sloane's work in Dublin, and Joeline flies there immediately and begins a strange search for this elusive man. Around this story is one of Joeline's relationship with promiscuous Molly, and Molly's part in the abandonment slowly comes into focus. Redhill provides no easy answers to the mysteries he creates in these pages, and yet it's strangely satisfying, if rather bleak.

Arrow, $26.95

* * *

Tom Robbins: Villa Incognito

I've never been a Robbins fan and, looking through this latest from the man who brought us Still Life with Woodpecker, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, it seems he's slipped even further into tiresomeness, bizarre rambunctiousness ("the night was so black not even Michael Jackson's cosmetic surgeon could have lightened its hue") and pseudo-philosophy. The novel begins with the story of Tanuki, a badger-like Asian creature with a reputation as a trickster with a fondness for sake. The cast includes a beautiful young woman who is probably the lovechild of Tanuki, and three American MIAs who have chosen to remain in Laos long after the Vietnam War. Robbins, in his wild way, takes aim at the military, big business and religion. But don't just take it from me: one fan, writing in Amazon, describes it as Robbins' weakest to date.

Bantam, $26.95

* * *

Sara Banerji: Shining Hero

A moving tale of sibling rivalry, based on the ancient Hindu epic poem the Mahabharata. A baby is passed into the hands of fate, sent floating down the river by his teenaged mother. The boy grows up on the streets of Calcutta, becomes a Bollywood star and eventually discovers he has a half-brother, and the two become great rivals. Rich with human experience and the details of life in the various layers of Indian society, this is a compelling read.

Flamingo, $22.99