Title: Wairaka Point: The Paradox of Truth

Author: Trevor Watkin

Genre: Fiction

 

When Zimbabwean Stella Rees briefly encounters New Zealander Nick James in the bar of the Black Star Hotel Accra in June 1979, she instantly forms the unshakable belief that her destiny lies with his. When Nick becomes embroiled in the Ghanaian civil war, Stella mounts a perilous rescue mission based on their chance meeting without really knowing who the man is…

Wairaka Point is an interesting novel in which Watkin breaks down genre boundaries. Set from 1969 to 1992 in mainly Africa and Australasia, he affords the reader fascinating, educational glimpses into the geopolitical history of the regions and insights of their socio-cultural fabric.

Against this backdrop of factual information, the fictional narrative of Stella and Nick unfolds, which broadly encompasses romance, family drama, adventure, and mystery.

The reader is introduced to Nick and Stella through third person, although Watkin objectively employs the perspective. Their mixed heritages and intriguing upbringings are relayed with the impression of a biographical piece.

Indeed, the reader feels a tentativeness from Watkin, a sense of emotional holding back in his depiction of Nick and Stella, although the grisly discovery made by a young Nick at the novel’s start is more weighted with feeling.

Nonetheless, the backgrounds of both protagonists are a convincing melting pot of cultures, which makes for absorbing reading. Nick and Stella are unconventional individuals, a contrasting blend of ethnicities and customs that has forged two free-spirited, yet single-minded, personalities.

Watkin’s writing is strongest in the sections where Nick and Stella are traveling, as he has a knack for succinctly capturing the essence of a place, especially its topography and folklore. Stella’s time in Ghana before she meets Nick has the captivating flavor of a highly readable and well-informed travel memoir.

 

Overall, however, his prose is matter-of-fact and written in a simple and sparse tone, although the occasional endearing vernacular quirk offsets the straightforwardness.

As the plot moves forward to the late 70s and the Gulf of Guinea, it segues into something quite different as Nick begins his desperate escape from Ghana.  The scenes with the German captain, Gerhard Hofman, aboard the MV Elobey, are well-observed, and Nick’s subsequent stranding on the volcanic Isle Annobon is credible.

Stella becomes a little frustrating at this stage, and for a time her actions veer between slightly farcical and far-fetched. Notwithstanding, it is the immutable view of her and Nick’s collective fate that is fundamental to Watkin’s narrative, so, taken in context, Stella’s behavior certainly demonstrates her tenacity and ensures Nick’s extraction from Isle Annobon provides thrilling reading.

The plot then lurches once again, albeit circling back to the eponymous Wairaka Point. What Nick found there decades previously resurfaces to give another angle to the “Paradox of Truth” sub-title other than Stella’s.

A riveting family mystery rooted in WWII takes hold, and Watkin’s prose becomes more emotionally descriptive as he presents Nick with a life-changing moral dilemma.

Although Nick undertakes a decision, Watkin has left an unusual ending for the reader, one in which they can rescind Nick’s choice. Watkin makes the reader privy to something Nick has decided to eschew, although it can be chosen not to be read. It’s an unexpected and thought-provoking move.

The non-fictional aspect is mainly exposed through footnotes. Although these are engrossing and lend immediacy, they do disrupt the flow some and might have been better placed elsewhere.

Wairaka Point is a vivid, creatively crafted fusion of fact and fiction written with care and enthusiasm. Watkin has produced an entertaining, informative novel that takes the reader on a journey of deeper complexity than first imagined.

 

 

This Editorial Review was written by the Book Review Directory staff. To receive a similarly honest, professional review for one of your own books, click here.