Daisley has the uncanny ability, within a few sentences, to create the narrative’s mood and to paint a character’s portrait. This novel has a deep melancholy but is far from maudlin. The protagonist, Roy Mitchell, is a laconic New Zealander – a straight-talker with a fondness for animals, rather than people.
Roy is a twin. His brother, Tony, is the yin to his yang. Where Roy is pragmatic, Tony is idealistic; Roy can seem hard, Tony has a softness that Roy scoffs at. The boys grow up on a North Taranaki hillside near the Mangawhero River. Against Tony’s advice, Roy tries to cross the river in a flood and is trapped beneath the water. Tony rescues him.
World War II breaks out and the boys enlist in NZ’s 22nd Battalion. Roy and Tony are at a listening post on Crete as German paratroopers attack. Tony is badly wounded. Roy retreats. He returns the next morning, but Tony is gone. A guilt-ridden Roy rejoins his battalion, which is being shipped to North Africa. Tony – unbeknownst to Roy – is alive, saved by a German medic.
Juxtaposition is essential to the narrative. Combat’s barbarity sits beside mundane tasks, like cooking. Roy’s platoon runs through a minefield, and the soldiers laugh, talking of home. Within the platoon, Manny is coarse; David is soft. (He’s nicknamed ‘Sister’ and had a close relationship with Tony.)
The narrative has many fragmented sentences. Much like when you talk to yourself. Reflecting and remembering. A Better Place isn’t a simple war story: it’s a novel of fraternal and romantic love. The writing – particularly the characterisation and description of Taranaki – is magnificent. The narrative and its characters will linger long after the final page.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
About the author
Stephen Daisley was born in 1955 and grew up in the North Island of New Zealand. He has worked on sheep and cattle stations, on oil and gas construction sites and as a truck driver, among many other jobs.
His first novel, Traitor, won the 2011 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction. Coming Rain won the Ockham Prize in 2015. Stephen lives in Western Australia.
