Fireworks
by Elizabeth H. Winthrop
Sceptre, HK$132
Readers of Fireworks could be forgiven for thinking 'same, same but different'. A married couple's relationship is threatened by the death several years earlier of their four-year-old son. Writer Hollis Clayton, in his 40s, is in denial about his rudderless life, even though it's clear he is flailing. His wife, who thus far has been his emotional buoy, decides to spend several months with her sister to work out whether she wants to remain married. With no one to turn to, not even the young woman with whom Clayton was having an affair (she drifts away after his disturbing behaviour at a fireworks display), he occupies his time with all things mundane: a lost dog, spying on the neighbours, trimming a hedge and the plight of a missing girl. One-person dinners become a chore (ironically, because there's no one else's preferences to consider), so he buys the same takeaway meal every day. And drinking is preferable to work, which is why he continues to avoid his editor, thus jeopardising his chances of success. Elizabeth H. Winthrop deftly succeeds in portraying the angst and hopelessness of her protagonist but almost completely eschews plot in favour of characterisation. However, her acute, and sometimes humorous, observations make this a winning debut.