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What Remains Behind

Dorothy Fowler

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Apr 08, 2010 Craig Sisterson rated it liked it

Shelves: mysteries, new-zealand

Fowler’s debut centres on an archaeological dig near a small rural town in the Kaipara, north of Auckland (New Zealand). Chloe Davis is a contract archaeologist who has returned to her family-owned farm to excavate, before the farm is subdivided for lifestyle blocks, the ruins of a religious community that burned to the ground in the 1880s, killing several people. Already under time and budget pressure, Chloe and her team soon encounter local resistance, ranging from bar fights to sabotage and v Fowler’s debut centres on an archaeological dig near a small rural town in the Kaipara, north of Auckland (New Zealand). Chloe Davis is a contract archaeologist who has returned to her family-owned farm to excavate, before the farm is subdivided for lifestyle blocks, the ruins of a religious community that burned to the ground in the 1880s, killing several people. Already under time and budget pressure, Chloe and her team soon encounter local resistance, ranging from bar fights to sabotage and vandalism. Is someone worried that uncovering the past could upset the present? Chloe’s life and work is further complicated by the unknown motives of old acquaintances and interfering relatives.

The story switches regularly between Chloe’s present-day narration, and journal entries made by Charity, a young girl living in the isolated religious community in the lead-up to the tragedy. It’s a literary structure that could flourish or fall flat, but overall Fowler does a very good job, utilising the linked but 120-years-apart storylines to collectively build towards her novel’s denouement. Each has its own voice and language, different enough to seem authentic, without being overdone.

Fowler also creates a nice sense of authenticity with the small-town setting, filled with the spider-web of shared histories, and secrets past or present, that can be prevalent in a place where everyone knows everyone (or at least presumes they do). Fowler also shines with bringing the reader into the world of archaeology, striking a balance between enough details to fascinate and ring true, without overwhelming with technical jargon.

Depending on what sort of mysteries readers are used to, some may struggle with the slower pacing in the early part of the novel; Fowler employs a slow burn, with events unfolding leisurely until the final third of the novel. There’s a growing sense that something is not quite right with the excavation and the nearby town, rather than any sort of focused investigation being sparked by an early hook or crime.

Beyond the alternating narratives, the impact of history on the present is also a wider theme in What Remains Behind. Fowler weaves the colonial and more recent past into the fabric of the story, and things are brought together very well, and not in an entirely predictable way, in the latter stages. Overall, an enjoyable read and a promising debut from a new voice in New Zealand writing.

This review was originally published in the print version of NZLawyer magazine ...more

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