Kate Duignan

Lawyer Peter Collie has nursed his wife Moira through cancer. Now that she has died he is without his anchor. The story wanders through his life, such as the relationship he had with French woman Geneviève while living on a boat in Amsterdam in the 1970s, the death of their baby, his meeting Moira who was already pregnant to someone else, their marriage, and his parenting of Moira's son Aaron. As he discovers some of Moira's secrets he questions much of what his thought he knew. To be honest I was about a third through the book when I realised that I was bored and didn't even care about or like the main character and his dithering and introspection. Speed read the rest and skipped pages then finally reached the end. The story just didn't seem to go anywhere.… (plus d'informations)

This is my second book in the NZ Ockham Longlist and so far my preferred choice.
Peter Collie has spent much of the past year supporting his wife who had terminal cancer. Now she is gone he has to retrieve the threads of his life. Their only son returns to his life in London following a disagreement at the airport. Peter, an only child himself, has the sole concern for his aging parents, a holiday home to sell and then there is his Mother-in-law, Claudia. His return to work as a lawyer in a successful practice does not go well. A misunderstanding results in a complaint being laid and Peter is sent on gardening leave.
Meanwhile, his son Aaron has failed to contact him since his return to England and Peter's anxiety for his safety increases. Aaron is not his biological child, as Moira was pregnant when they met. He has also been contacted by an old friend in London, who believes he saw a woman that could have been Peter's supposedly dead daughter from a relationship in his twenties.
There are complex story lines, set against a backdrop of New Zealand and world events, spanning 25 years. I couldn't wait to get back to this book to see how matters resolved. Peter discovers a last painting of his wife's, a portrait of himself, naked. This is a wonderful analogy of where he is in life. No longer, a husband, father or lawyer, his life is stripped bare.… (plus d'informations)