94 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019
TheGulfBetween
Maxine Alterio (Penguin, $38)Theeponymousgapisnot
justonebutmany:Alterio’s
subjectsincludethevoids
betweenpeople,cultures,
generationsandthesexes.
Andinthebackground,
thereisthegulfofNaples,
aroundwhichmuchofthe
novelisset.
Whilethebookismore
concernedwithexamining
socialmoresandpsychology,
thereisalsoa threadofmys-
teryrunningthroughit – one
thatisresolvedina shock-
inglyunexpectedmannerin
thefinalsentence.
Allthisistoldinflashback.
Atthestartofthebook,Ju-
liaMoretti’sestrangedson,
Matteo,hasbeeninjured
ina caraccidentnearthe
ShotoverBridge.British
would-beactressJuliamar-
riedMatteo’sItalianfather
Ben(shortforBenito)and
gaveuphercareerand
countrytojoinhimatthe
familyhomeinItaly.The
householdisdominatedby
hisinvalidmother,whois
supposedlydyingbuttaking
hersweettimeaboutit.She
prefershisbrotherErnesto
toBen.Thereareominous
rumblingsaboutdarkpasts
andthebrothers’mysterious
businessdealings.
MaxineAlterioknowsher
characterswellandsoonhas
uscaringaboutthemand
wantingtoknow why
they’reactingsostrangely.
There’sa prominentfeminist
theme,butit’sreallyno
surprisetobetoldthat
Italianmeninthe1960shad
littlerespectforwomen.
Unfortunately,theactionin
thelastquarterofthebook
lackscredibility.Toexplain
whywouldbetogivetoo
muchaway,andinreallife,
ofcourse,peoplewillalways
surpriseyou.Butsufficeto
sayit’sverydifficulttoim-
agineanymotherdoing
what Julia does here. +Pūrākau:Māori
MythsRetoldby
MāoriWriters
EditedbyWitiIhimaera&
Whiti Hereaka (Vintage, $38)Thisisnottheanthologyto
chooseif youwanttointroduce
yourchildren– oryourself– to
thevastcanonofMāorimyths
andlegends.Asthetitlemakes
clear,thesetalesarebeingre -
told,nottold.Butforthosein
theknow,it is a rewardingcol-
lectionofre-examinations,
re-interpretationsand,of
course,re-creations.Itbegins
indarknesswithcreation
mythsandgraduallylightsup
a wholeworldofancestors,
godsandmonsters.
Theintroductionoutlines
thecontextforallthis:myths
stillaffectdailylife,soit’sap-
propriatetohaveancienttales
toldina modernvoice,and
sometimes toseethem
througha modernlens.This
isthecaseinstoriessuchas
Hereaka’s“Papatūānuku”,in
whichtheearthmotherhas
noendoftroubleswithher
unrulyadolescentsons,who
alsohappentobegods.
Manyofthesestorieshave
beenpreviouslypublishedbut
thosethatappearforthefirst
timedonotsufferbycompar-
isonwithothersfromthelikes
ofKeriHulmeandPatricia
Grace.Thereis morehumour
herethanyoumightfindina
collectionofmythsfrom
manyothercultures.David
Gearymesseswiththenotion
ofMāui– fromthemovieMo-
ana– asMāuithecelebrity
impersonatoronHollywood
Boulevard.Hulme’s 2007 sto-
ry“GettingIt”,inwhichtani-
whaturnupata consenthear-
ing,isstillasfunnyand
(regrettably)relevanttoday.
“AcollectionofMāorimyths
inupdatedversions”is oneof
thoseideasthatseemsblin-
dinglyobviouswhensomeone
finallygetsaroundtohaving
it.Theeditorsandpublishers
havebroughtittofruition
with energy and skill.Museum 2100 Natura l
History
Treasures
ofTePapa
EditedbySusanWaugh
(Te Papa Press, $45)Theissue of how
muchofitscollection
canbeseenatany
timehasdoggedTe
Papafromthestart,
andhasonlypartial-
ly beenresolved
byan increase in
theamountofthe
permanentcollec-
tiononshow.Soa
bookthatselectsjust
100 itemsfromonly
oneofthemuseum’s
departmentscomes
witha fairamountof
baggage.However,
thisisanentertain-
ingselection,edited
byTePapa’shead
ofscience,Susan
Waugh.Theitems
arewonderfulintheir
rarityanddiversity,
andthedescriptions
arelucidandinforma-
tive.Thereleaseofthe
bookhasbeentimed
tocoincidewiththe
openingon11 Mayof
TeTaiaoNature,a $12
millionredevelop-
mentofthemuseum’s
nature zone.Museum 1Director’s
Choice:Auckland
Museum
DavidGaimster(Scala
Arts & Heritage, $25)Auckland War
MemorialMuseum
joins institutions
aroundtheworldina
seriesfroma UK-based
publisherinwhich,as
thetitlemakesclear,
museumheadslist
personalfavourites.
Thelocalmuseum’s
directoronlysince
2017,DavidGaimster
was,obviously,ad-
visedonhisselections
bystaff.Theresultis a
collectionoffamiliar
favouritesandsome
delightfullyidiosyn-
craticchoices,such
asa Victorianlithop-
hane(a3Dimagein
thinporcelain)anda
glassmodelofanoc-
topus.Yourreviewer
can’trecallhaving
seeneitherofthese
onshowinmorethan
halfa centuryofvisits
tothemuseum.One
wonderswhatelseis
hiddenawaythere,Te
Papa-style(seereview
of 100 NaturalHistory
Treasuresof Te Papa,
at right).