A LIE SOMEONE TOLD YOU ABOUT YOURSELF
Peter Ho Davies
Hachette
REVIEWED BY ANNE STEVENS
The dilemma of an abortion, then the fallout. The baby they do have who is so different, perhaps autistic. The decisions, the wonderings, the agonising. This is the story. So recognisable, funny at times and very engaging.
All of it hits home even if the reader has not experienced it. That must be one of the arts of quality story telling. The reader constantly thinking, then laughing at the absurdity of humans, particularly as parents.
You could read this short novel in a night or two but it will stay with you a lot longer.
Humbling is one way to describe it.
The use of ‘‘the wife’’, ‘‘the son’’, the neutrality of these words in such poignant situations is part of the power. They all so clearly love each other and care for each other.
I like the son when at seven he has taken to exclaiming ‘‘good grief!’’ at every opportunity: clean your plate. Good grief! Tidy your room. Good grief!
I like the wife best when the son comes home from school with head lice and she screams ‘‘stay away from me’’.
The father volunteers at the abortion clinic and his fellow volunteer explains the doctor splits her day between doing deliveries and working at the clinic.
‘‘Its called pro-choice for a reason you know, supporting women who choose to have kids and those who don’t’’.
Anne Stevens QC is a Dunedin barrister
