‘In The Pacific Room, Fitzgerald moves between these two periods. Stevenson comes in and out of focus; is both closely observed as awkwardly he dresses and dissolves into legend and the physical remains – house, books, photographs – that attest to his presence in Samoa.
We witness the meeting of Stevenson – to the Samoans, Tusitala, “the teller of tales” and Nerli, who decides that he ought to be called Tusiata, “a sketcher of shadows”. The painting was finished, and often reproduced, its “atmosphere /… at once simple and severe, Samoan and Scottish”. Nerli will vanish into obscurity in Auckland, not before impregnating the Stevensons’ English maid.
As Wakefield wanders dreamily in and out of the past, Fitzgerald gives us glimpses through contemporary Samoan eyes of atrophied tribal ways, but still tenacious belief in a world of spirits, sexual ambivalence, the economic lure of New Zealand.’
Peter Pierce, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald 14 July 2017
‘… filled to the brim with fascinating characters and gorgeous scenery. Exploring the duality of human nature, this is a Jekyll and Hyde like tale that explores the public and private sides of a character. But where one might expect a simplistic tale of good and evil, Fitzgerald instead presents a tender and touching series of vignettes, brief glimpses that build up multi-faceted and interesting people, who occupy neither light nor dark, but some grey place in between. Coupled with a gift for gorgeous prose and rich imagery, it might prove to be one of the most colourful selection of greys you’ll ever read!’
Jodie B. Sloan, AU Review 3 August 2017
‘… Fitzgerald handles his various storylines deftly, and he writes compressed, evocative prose …’
SH, The Saturday Paper 15 July 2017
‘ Its imagery is beautiful. And, as I closed the book, I saw all sorts of things in the photograph on the inner covers that I just didn’t see before.’
Resident Judge, 18 July 2017
‘The Pacific Room is an interesting and clever novel. The author slowly unravels the tale, and involves the reader in the lives of the main characters, and the customs and culture that surrounds them. The writing is almost lyrical, and blends in beautifully with the swaying palms and the movement of the ocean. As with the ocean, there is an undercurrent, which is mesmerizing to hear, and slow to be revealed.’
Blue Wolf Reviews, 2 July 2017
http://bluewolf-reviews.com/books/fiction/the-pacific-room/
‘This is one of the best-written novels I’ve read this year. Fitzgerald’s words are so perfectly honed, each sentence beautifully balanced and full of vivid imagery. The plot is languid, like the Samoan setting’s air, inhaling in the past as Robert Louis Stevenson dies and exhaling in the now as Lewis comes to terms with his family’s tragic past. Both sensory and sensual, this is a gorgeous piece of writing with a powerful sense of place.’
Good Reads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2046918599?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1
Michael Fitzgerald speaks to Kate Evans on Radio National
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