Ian Williams reviews The Legend of Beau Baxter

THE LEGEND OF BEAU BAXTER
Ivan Dunn
HarperCollins, $36.99, pbk

In 1949, Alan Kiwi Blake missed selection for the All Black tour to South Africa because of his skin colour, and later played for New Zealand Maori.

However, Blake was not Maori, his skin colour being inherited from his part-Negro father.

This bizarre circumstance is the basis of Ivan Dunn's The Legend of Beau Baxter, featuring an All Black who is assumed to be Maori but is not, and who is selected for the Invincibles' 1924 tour of the British Isles, France and Canada (no colour bar in those countries).

A light-hearted, consistently amusing frolic through the annals (and stuffed shirts) of New Zealand rugby, this is an adult version of a Boy's Own yarn, with mythical characters (who may or may not be based on real-life individuals) rubbing shoulders with the immortal names of the past.

But in Dunn's book, the Maori is part-Cherokee Indian (Beau being a shorted version of Longbow.)Prior to team selection, Beau's rugby prowess (not to mention his looks) brings him to the notice of the public and powers that be.

But it is a big step from being noticed to being selected for an All Black touring team.

And so begins a saga of youth and versatility versus the Establishment, ably assisted by grateful ladies.

Indeed, without their help, the handsome Beau might have remained just another hand at the timber yard.

Having got all that out of the way, let us turn the pages of Beau Baxter's adventurous subterfuge as he steers readers through an ever-changing scenario, from on-the-field triumphs, to off-the-field activity in boudoirs, dining rooms, ocean liners, Irish pubs, English racecourses, fox hunting with the lords and ladies, Scottish castles, and even royal residences: Buckingham Palace no less, where he ch-ch-chats, with the Duke of York.

If this all sounds a bit airy-fairy, rest assured that Dunn's fable is based on reports of the tour by journalists and writers, and every move the team makes, both on and off the field, has the ring of authenticity.

A word that sums up the charm and sheer likeability of The Legend of Beau Baxter occurs in the second paragraph of the narrative: a "cracker".

My only argument is with the statement on the cover, "not for the ladies".

Or is that meant to be mythical, too?

Ian Williams is a Dunedin writer and composer.