Nicky Pellegrino in Herald on Sunday Oct 5, 2014
Mr Mac and Me
By Esther Freud (Bloomsbury)
The careful, lyrical prose is the greatest joy of UK author Esther Freud's latest novel. It is nostalgic and understated; it takes you smoothly to another time and slowly unfolds its story of art, friendship and war. It is 1914 and Thomas Maggs is the only surviving son of the innkeeper in a sleepy coastal Suffolk village. Thomas has a twisted foot and his parents are protective but he's a curious boy and when war breaks out he keeps his eyes wide open for spies and invaders. Then a stranger appears in the village. The man called Mac has an odd accent and wears a big black cape. At first, Thomas thinks he's a detective but in truth he is the Glasgow architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who is suffering a crisis and has come to Suffolk with his wife to concentrate on their art. Thomas is fascinated and gradually an unlikely friendship develops between the teenage boy and the lonely, tormented man. Freud has a home in the Suffolk village where the story is set and she writes of its landscapes and characters with great affection. Mackintosh is the only one who did exist in real life, but the salty sea dogs, doughty rope maker and sparky herring girls all feel as if they might have done. A gentle, haunting story.
A Treasury of NZ Poems for Children
Edited by Paula Green, illustrated by Jenny Cooper (Random House)
Bright and with beautiful illustrations, this is a mix of Kiwi classics, new poems and work by winners of a children's poetry competition, judged by the book's editor Paula Green. There's lots of verse about animals including Janet Frame's Cat of Habit and Joy Cowley's Bookshop Elephant. There are fantastical creatures like dragons, fire-breathing taniwha and even a pet gorilla. There are short pithy poems, longer funny ones, even the odd verse that rhymes. In hardback, A Treasury of NZ Poems for Children would make an ideal gift, a book to be read aloud and enjoyed by all the family.
More reviews
By Esther Freud (Bloomsbury)
The careful, lyrical prose is the greatest joy of UK author Esther Freud's latest novel. It is nostalgic and understated; it takes you smoothly to another time and slowly unfolds its story of art, friendship and war. It is 1914 and Thomas Maggs is the only surviving son of the innkeeper in a sleepy coastal Suffolk village. Thomas has a twisted foot and his parents are protective but he's a curious boy and when war breaks out he keeps his eyes wide open for spies and invaders. Then a stranger appears in the village. The man called Mac has an odd accent and wears a big black cape. At first, Thomas thinks he's a detective but in truth he is the Glasgow architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who is suffering a crisis and has come to Suffolk with his wife to concentrate on their art. Thomas is fascinated and gradually an unlikely friendship develops between the teenage boy and the lonely, tormented man. Freud has a home in the Suffolk village where the story is set and she writes of its landscapes and characters with great affection. Mackintosh is the only one who did exist in real life, but the salty sea dogs, doughty rope maker and sparky herring girls all feel as if they might have done. A gentle, haunting story.
A Treasury of NZ Poems for ChildrenEdited by Paula Green, illustrated by Jenny Cooper (Random House)
Bright and with beautiful illustrations, this is a mix of Kiwi classics, new poems and work by winners of a children's poetry competition, judged by the book's editor Paula Green. There's lots of verse about animals including Janet Frame's Cat of Habit and Joy Cowley's Bookshop Elephant. There are fantastical creatures like dragons, fire-breathing taniwha and even a pet gorilla. There are short pithy poems, longer funny ones, even the odd verse that rhymes. In hardback, A Treasury of NZ Poems for Children would make an ideal gift, a book to be read aloud and enjoyed by all the family.
More reviews
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