Eddy, Eddy

I love the set up of Eddy, Eddy … a young guy living with his uncle Brian in Christchurch, embarrassed by him but also stuck with him for the meantime. The novel begins with the pair of them taking their dog to the vet for the last time, then burying her in the garden. Like all stressful situations, this brings their different personalities sharply into focus.

Something has happened that means Eddy’s giving tertiary education a miss right now … he’s working at New World and looking after pets. I read this novel in little snippets at the end of each day, and I loved all the weird pets, and the peeks into the different houses he visits to look after them.

The dodgy Catholic priest who Eddy can’t stand, and who looms on the edge of family gatherings, gives this quirky novel a sense of threat, that something has happened that isn’t spoken of. The scenes related to Eddy’s weird friend Thos are also intense and mysterious – Thos is from a rich family but stays in his rich parent’s back shed casting aspersions on most of humanity.

There’s so much that is delightful in ‘Eddy, Eddy’ – Delphine the weird kid that Eddy looks after, Sue the nun who defies expectations, and Brain (Uncle Brian) who seems to have nothing going on in his life but turns out to have an eclectic mix of friends.

This novel is about putting a life back together after the physical earthquakes in Christchurch, but also after a series of personal events that shook Eddy’s sense of himself.