— return to list

Crocus Hour, The

Randall, Charlotte

The first half of this novel is set in Crete in 1981. The narrator is a young man who has come to a small, religious village for a holiday. In a cafe, he meets a New Zealand man, Henry Davis, who befriends him. Davis reveals that his daughter Sally had gone missing in the village in 1979. He slowly builds up a picture of his daughter and her friend Jane and explores the baffling circumstances of Sally's disappearance. He escorts the narrator to various parts of the island, pointing out the places they had visited, and describing the leads the police followed. The second half of the novel is set in New Zealand and spans the following two decades. The narrator visits Davis a number of times during this period. He meets and gets to know Jane, who has formed a daughter-like relationship with Davis and has moved into his house. Over the years, the narrator frequently asks himself who was to blame for Sally's mysterious disappearance. Was her disappearance the result of a crime or an accident — or was she in deliberate flight from a too-protective father or too-domineering friend? As he ages, the narrator continually revises his opinions, not only about Sally, but about human relationships.

Finalist in the 2009 Montana New Zealand Book Awards, Fiction category.

PO BOX 17-244, WELLINGTON 6147, NEW ZEALAND.
TEL: +64-4-475 3327, info@nzbooksabroad.com, FAX: +64-4-475 4040.