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Nicky Pellegrino BOOKS EDITOR Taken away!

FANTASY

escape!

BOOK WEEK of the ADVENTURE ABOUNDS AS BOOKS COME TO LIFE The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry (Hachette, RRP $24.99). I ’m excited to have come across new Kiwi talent H.G. Parry. She’s produced a literary fantasy that is a completely brilliant read for anybody who loves books or magic. It’s quirky, original and unexpected from start to finish.

Rob Sutherland is a Wellington lawyer and a very normal guy. Rob’s younger brother Charley is anything but ordinary though. He has the ability to bring fictional characters from the pages of the books he is reading into the real world – Sherlock Holmes has been an especially regular visitor in his life.

It’s a magical skill that Charley can’t completely control and Rob is there to help him out of the messes it gets him into, and to prevent anyone else from finding out his secret.

When Rob gets a call late at night to say Uriah Heep – a villain from the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – is on the loose, he goes rushing to the rescue.

Vanquishing a violent Uriah is only the beginning of this supernatural adventure as Rob and Charley find themselves fighting off fictional monsters and discover a hidden Victorian street inhabited by characters from Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens’ stories. They become embroiled in a battle of good against evil, and it appears Charley isn’t the only one with the ability to bring fictional characters to life, with a mysterious arch enemy scheming to use their power to destroy the world.

Charley and Rob, along with a plucky fictional girl detective, several Mr Darcys, and a Maui, have to risk everything to prevent disaster happening. It helps if you’ve read at least some of the novels referenced, otherwise it may feel like a bookish in-joke. But there’s also a very human and nonfantastical story about a tricky relationship between two brothers and I think anyone can relate to that.

I loved the humour, the cleverness and the sheer fun of this book. I can’t wait to

see what H.G. Parry comes up with next.

BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION Don’t miss out on the Weekly’s book club. This month we are reading an apocalyptic drama about climate change, The End of the Ocean by Maja Lunde (HarperCollins, RRP $37.99). Sign up at womansweekly.co. nz/bookclubsignup. Meanwhile, here’s this week’s discussion point: • How did reading this book make you feel about real-life events such as the recent Australian bushfires crisis?

Email your thoughts, answers and competition entries to bookclub@nzww.co. nz or post to Book Club, NZWW, Private Bag 92512, Wellesley St, Auckland 1141 WEEKLY BOOK CLUB

About the author… H.G. Parry

She lives in Wellington and teaches English literature, film and media studies. The H.G. stands for Hannah Gabrielle. She has written lots of short fiction and this is her debut novel. This novel was inspired by… “The years I spent at Victoria University studying English literature. I wanted to write a book that celebrates books, particularly Victorian novels and children’s stories, but I also wanted to celebrate the study of English literature. It’s ended up being a book filled with a lot of things that I love: Wellington, sibling rivalry, Dickensian streets, girl detectives, secret passages, houses teeming with old books, the footprints of a gigantic hound, and multiple versions of Mr Darcy.” The most challenging thing about writing it was… “Finding the right mix between literary adventure and family drama. For a long time, I tried to focus on keeping the plot tight and fast-paced so nobody reading it would get bored. It wasn’t until after it sold that my editor encouraged me to let the family elements of the book grow and breathe.” My writing habits are… “Not really habits at all! I write anywhere from my desk at home to the library to a museum to a table in the garden with my pet rabbits. I really like writing on trains because it gives you a set length of time with nothing to do but type and watch the scenery go by.”