| Title | : | A Place to Stand |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 9780473221 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 228 |
| Publication | : | First published February 18, 2013 |
The main character, Sandra McLeod, arrives as a child from England with her ‘£10 Pom’ family, but their new life isn’t what they’d hoped it might be. Via flashbacks recalled by Sandra when she returns to Kawerau to visit her ailing mother in 1975, Helen McNeil skilfully describes the gradual disintegration of the McLeod family in realistic, evocative and sometimes gruelling detail. There is a sense, too, with the presence of the Maori and Catholic elements of the story, that Kawerau, perched as it is on a brittle volcanic crust, is a mystical place where both good and bad fortune can be magnified.
The revelation of Sandra’s secrets is perfectly timed to keep the reader turning pages, and the conclusion is as satisfying as you could hope for.
A compelling and really quite haunting read from a new and distinctive voice in New Zealand fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed it.’
Deborah Challinor, top selling author of the Children of War Trilogy, Isle of Tears (2009), Band of Gold (2010)
A Place to Stand Reviews
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It’s 1975, and in Auckland, New Zealand Sandra McLeod is a struggling real estate agent, trying desperately to empower herself through a self-help course book. When a letter arrives from an old friend informing Sandra that her mother is ailing, Sandra sees this as a test of her inner strength. The trip back to the small, sulfurous town of Kawerau – a place Sandra swore she would never return to – dredges up old memories.
In A Place to Stand, author Helen McNeil stitches together the past and present with a sure hand. Almost as soon as Sandra arrives in Kawerau, the ghosts of the past begin whispering of a family torn by tragedy. Little by little, the story of Sandra’s past unfolds as she struggles in the present to finally face and overcome what happened to her.
A Place to Stand is a masterful drama. McNeil paints a clear picture of the struggling frontier town of Kawerau in the 1950s and the immigrant and native families that mingle and struggle together. Every character has depth, and the reader recognizes the timeless needs and longings that every child experiences as they grow into adulthood.
Sandra is a deeply-flawed adult, desperately fleeing from her past, but as the curtain pulls back to reveal her early struggles, I couldn’t help but sympathize with her decisions and understand the unbalanced adult she grew up to be.
A Place to Stand is a beautiful and tragic story that readers itching for a good drama will enjoy. My only complaint is the author’s choice to switch to the second person in one of the last chapters of the book, which had the unfortunate result of inserting me into the story and pushing Sandra out during a very critical moment for her.
Other than this one drawback, A Place to Stand is superb, and McNeil has shown herself to be a highly talented and observant writer.
(This book was provided to Compulsion Reads for review by the author.) -
Excellent portrayal of young protaganist and the difficulties she encounters. Really enjoyed it
