Bøker av Alastair Carthew

New Zealand is famous for its beautiful scenery and friendly people. Both are true, but there is more--a literary tradition second to none. The Timid Bookseller is a tribute to that tradition through the eyes of identical triplets named after Katherine Mansfield, Janet Frame and Ngaio Marsh, three of New Zealand's greatest woman writers. Set in a rural town in the tumultuous 1980s, the novel also exposes a dark side to Kiwi culture. Murder, a mystery surrounding the triplets/ true father, small-town intrigue and prejudice, and the iniquities of the NZ legal and racial systems lead to a shocking climax. Numerous references to famous novels and writers interweave throughout the plot--all done with a healthy dash of Kiwi humour. Identical triplets Katherine, Ngaio and Janet want desperately to be like their namesakes, Mansfield, Marsh and Frame.Identical twin Leif Larsen is apparently their father, but could it be his twin, Nils? The triplets remain oblivious.The aspiring writers endure the mudslinging of being raised by a solo mother in Paddock, a conservative farming town, to pursue their dreams of emulating their namesakes.Timid orphan William Manchester's shabby bookshop becomes the teenagers' haven-and they the shop's saviour from ruin. Then, violence and revenge unexpectedly stalk the innocent bookseller-with catastrophic resultsCould Nils really be the triplets' father? Why does a young radical Máori hate the bookshop? Where does Paris's iconic Shakespeare and Company bookstore fit in? Why does a wealthy, mysterious benefactor hide his true name?The Timid Bookseller pays tribute to the joys of reading books in a darkly humorous, historical tale with frequent unexpected twists, set against the economic turbulence and prejudices buffeting small-town New Zealand in the turbulent 1980s.

This tale is a parody, a 'tour de force' glimpse into New Zealand's long history of cultural tolerance and integration, Maori mystique, technological innovation, adventurism, their world-famous rugby teams, the anti-nuclear policy, the pervasiveness of sex and alcohol; the artfulness, treachery, and perfidy of politicians, and the disconnect between town and country. The much-maligned sheep, as synonymous with New Zealand as Sir Edmund Hillary and beautiful scenery, earns a well-deserved place in the unrelenting sun that is driving a deadly drought. Proud also examines, through the prism of humour and a historical perspective, the incestuous relationship between the media and political classes. It could be Washington, London or Paris. The conventions, traditions, and plain hypocritical double-dealing, deviousness, and unscrupulous behaviour by bad actors are common to all. Alternatively, Paddock epitomises small-town attitudes and customs light years removed from the Chardonnay swilling, self-important, smug denizens of Hubris, formerly Wellington, the political capital; and Freewheeling, formerly known as Auckland, the commercial capital and scene of many a Fast Harry driving a Ferrari one minute and in jail for fraud the next. Sheep, cattle, dogs, flat beer, bad bakery goods, honest values, simplicity, and a healthy disrespect for the ruling class are Paddock's raison d'être. Paddock could be any small town in the world. Proud is a parody, loaded with satire, LOL humour, sex, social commentary, perhaps prophetic (global warming warning!), and culturally insensitive (political correctness gone mad) but in a caring sort of way. "God's Own" hides many secrets set against the blazing reality of climate change and the undeniable reality of nuclear power. Proud unlocks them in an unerring, strangely weird, and unnerving way.

Princess Divine, the sole heir to the English throne, wants to marry a guileless All Black rugby player and farmer from Proud (New Zealand).Fearing a royal scandal, the scheming Queen Liliana and maniacal King Filip plot to marry Divine off to an English aristocrat. Divine flees with her lover, Joshua, in 2022, to Proud.Led by the King to bring Divine home, English and Australian soldiers fight an epic battle at a Maori pa (fortress) against fierce Māori gang warriors, elderly mercenaries, Afghan refugees, and even a replica of the extinct moa.Divine returns to marry and become Queen, but disaster strikes when Divine cannot produce an heir to continue the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha's grip on the monarchy after the decades-old reign of the Windsor dynasty.Will Divine abdicate? Who would replace her? Why is the British Commonwealth collapsing all around them? What dark rituals do All Blacks follow? Does Australia want to conquer Proud? Divine and Joshua are innocent pawns in an international power play between the Queen and her subjects.Divine's Choice is a humorous, contemporary (2022) romantic adventure, a family saga with more twists and turns than the Hampton Court maze. It parodies the unique pressures facing the English monarchy and its rugby equivalent, the New Zealand All Blacks, in today's cruel social media age.