Titillating romp
Martin Doyle24/08/2011 10:54:00 a.m.
The Larnachs, by Owen Marshall, Random House. RRP: $39.99, Reviewed by Martin Doyle.
WHEN MP William Larnach blew his brains out in a committee room at Parliament back in 1898, he probably had no idea that so many bits and pieces of his private life would be picked over by the gossips of the day, or for that matter, Owen Marshall in 2011.
At the time, it was generally acknowledged that Larnach was in deep financial trouble and possibly not feeling a hundred per cent. However, this novel focuses on another wee matter that was never splattered in the newspapers i.e. a secret love affair that Larnach’s much-younger wife Connie [actually the sister of the Mayor of Wellington] was conducting with Larnach’s son Dougie. The story in the novel is told by Connie and Dougie themselves, alternating chapter by chapter, giving the reader all the juicy details of their lives as they wrestle with something that is bigger than both of them.
I found it a bit frustrating that Larnach himself wasn’t given a chance to put his side of the story ‘straight to cam’, but he nevertheless looms as a large, brooding presence through the reportage of the other two.
This book is always titillating, rich in historic detail of Otago and Wellington, and beautifully worded. If you take it to bed with you, you won’t put it down.
WHEN MP William Larnach blew his brains out in a committee room at Parliament back in 1898, he probably had no idea that so many bits and pieces of his private life would be picked over by the gossips of the day, or for that matter, Owen Marshall in 2011.
At the time, it was generally acknowledged that Larnach was in deep financial trouble and possibly not feeling a hundred per cent. However, this novel focuses on another wee matter that was never splattered in the newspapers i.e. a secret love affair that Larnach’s much-younger wife Connie [actually the sister of the Mayor of Wellington] was conducting with Larnach’s son Dougie. The story in the novel is told by Connie and Dougie themselves, alternating chapter by chapter, giving the reader all the juicy details of their lives as they wrestle with something that is bigger than both of them.
I found it a bit frustrating that Larnach himself wasn’t given a chance to put his side of the story ‘straight to cam’, but he nevertheless looms as a large, brooding presence through the reportage of the other two.
This book is always titillating, rich in historic detail of Otago and Wellington, and beautifully worded. If you take it to bed with you, you won’t put it down.
