BOOKS CULTURE
A city
divided
Hamish Clayton's ambitious second book adds mystery to his lyricism.
by THOM CON ROY
W
ulf, Hamish Clayton's first novel, gave a poeticised account of the historical incident of Te Rauparaha's hiring of the brig Elizabeth to wage an attack on a rival iwi. The winner of Best First Book in the 2012 New Zealand Post Book Awards, it was celebrated for its incantatory prose. One reviewer wrote, "it is almost as if it is all taking place in some sort of enchanted wonderland".
Clayton's The Pale North is divided into two parts. Part I is a novella, The City of Lost Things, in which a narrator who may
50	LISTENER AUGUST 120	

Parting shot
CATHERINE ROBERTSON
reviews the latest contemporary fiction.
Young Nick and his older neighbour go hunting on his father's rural property. One of them fatally shoots an illegal cannabis grower, but neither believes he's the culprit — or won't admit it. A LINE OF SIGHT (Escalator Press, $30), by Adrienne Jansen, is described as a whodunnit, but it's really more of a study of how such a shooting not only affects the people involved but also ripples out into the community. The low-key, slow-burn pace is perfect for showing that bonds between people can be uneasily balanced at the best of times, and Jansen is skilled at delivering character insight in subtle but satisfying ways.

New Zealand Listener, August 1 2015