A very appealing and unusual novel about growing up in New Zealand in the 1950's, told from the point of view of a 12 year old boy who has a passion for writing short stories.
It is a time when World war 2 is still in everyone's mind and everything about the war easily brought to the surface. It was also a god-fearing time when if anything happened to you it was because you had said, done or thought about something that angered god. It was in a nutshell your own fault, but redemption was possible, and this is a novel about redemption.
The story is narrated by a 12 year old boy of English parentage whose family is struggling to come to terms with New Zea land's mono-dimensional society where difference was frowned upon and any aspiration other than wanting to become an All Black, was considered disloyal. When the narrator writes an essay for school titled "The Burden of Responsibility" he becomes a celebrity and everybody reads it including an adult friend who has a guilty conscience over an incident with a U Boat lurking in New Zealand waters. Once this story gets out all hell breaks loose with friend turning against friend.
A riveting read this for high school students and for adults. This novel is the biggest surprise I have read this year from a New Zealand writer.
Learn more about Derek Hansen
Reviewed by Bob
Published by HarperCollins
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