“The Paua Tower”

Written by Coral Atkinson, this novel is about life in New Zealand during the depression of the 1930’s.  It ranges from Christchurch ‘a place of obedient gardens and corseted souls’ to a central North Island town where desperate times drive people to desperate actions.  The very believable characters include an ‘uncomfortably foreign’ Frenchwoman who reads the tarot, an unemployed activist, and a minister uncertain of his faith.  Times are hard, but there’s hope at the end of this enjoyable story, and insights into the life of a generation only just past.  Rating: 7/10