A Passing Guest

by Elspeth Sandys

Renate meets Max Nene at Paremoremo where she is helping him with his writing. She soon becomes caught up in his compelling story of gang life and a strong friendship begins to develop. But when Max is released and found dead she is forced to re-evaluate her own life and relationships.

192 pages, Paperback

Published February 8, 2002

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sad story about loss. Losses that happen to us and those we bring on ourselves. The main character, Renate Anderson, is difficult to understand at times. She 'befriends' a Paremoremo (a Maximum Security Prison near Auckland NZ) prisoner to teach him creative writing. He has a large extended family that she becomes involved with. This part is a bridge between the Māori and Pakeha worlds. The descriptions of life in Auckland and other places, the sense of a New Zealand not doing as well as it should, the various social and political issues, actually work well.
But Renate? Is she naive or just desperate for a partner? Why does she blame everything on herself? Why does she continually second guess herself? It's hard to tell. The depictions of complete difference between the Pakeha and Māori worlds ring true. My overall reaction to this story is one of unease and disquiet. I could not find a character I could relate to. Perhaps that's what Sandys wants. We are after all, every one of us just passing guests on this planet. An unsettling read. (This really 3 1/2 but Goodreads doesn't do halves :) ).