A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY is the beautifully ironic title of Jennifer Trevelyan’s debut novel.
It’s the summer of 85/86 and a family of four, mum, dad and their two daughters trek from Wellington to the Kapiti coast of New Zealand for the holiday break.
In the past, the family had always spent summer holidays in remote places. That had always been the mother’s preference. But this year was different. She wanted to go to a place with people, a decision more engineered than previously imagined as the story unfolds.
Narrated by the youngest daughter, a ten year old affectionately called Ally-pally by her mum, whose actual name is not revealed until towards the end in a plot boiling twist, A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY is both a coming of age story mixed with a missing person, possibly murder mystery and non supernatural ghost story – a feast of possibilities to entertain, all deliciously delivered.
Ally-pally quickly forms a friendship with a young Maori boy, Kahu, who tells her of the suspected drowning disappearance of a local girl named Charlotte.
Drowning is almost the fate of her sister, Vanessa, rescued by the perceived pervy neighbour living next door to their holiday shack.
A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY covers a summer full of incident with a ready made soundtrack by Split Enz and the Eurythmics. Indeed, a cassette tape of True Colours and a red Walkman are totemic as well as thematic to the plot.
Trevelyan certainly know how to twist and there’s genuine suspense that snakes through the novel. There’s also a sly comedy to the tale, especially the scenes with the local copper. The encounter with the constable near the climax is blackly comic, presenting a marvellous late entry character.
A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY is realistic fiction at its most successful, creating wonderfully drawn characters and summoning summers past with an oneiric quality, continually interesting because it works on so many different levels.
You want to know how it will turn out but you certainly don’t want it to end, but when it does the book reaches a satisfying conclusion, while at the same time leaving plenty for the reader to ponder.
Much more than good, A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY is outstanding.
A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY by Jenifer Trevelyan is published by Allen & Unwin.
