Each day it seems to Becky that a little of her soul is chipped away. Three weeks ago, she discovered her husband was having an affair with his ‘work-wife’ when he had a heart attack. Her aspirations to write a book instead of copy are slowly dissolving in alcohol, while her life feels to be a collection of wrong decisions.

For three weeks Becky has been drowning herself in vodka, barely leaving the bed, let alone the bedroom and house. Then along comes Meg, her best friend. Meg pulls Becky from the whirlpool of despair and begins to bring her back to life.

Not long after Meg, a letter also arrives. A letter from her past, a letter from Zoe. Zoe supplanted Meg as best friend for two years, the two almost inseparable. However, a tragic incident severed the friendship and Becky cut all ties with Zoe. Why would she send her a letter now, after all this time?

While Becky recovers, she ruminates, ponders, thinks about her life. Especially her halcyon years, her ‘Golden Days’. The summers of ’95 and ’96. The years she was young and impressionable. She remembers Zoe and their relationship. The impact and change Zoe had on her life and coming of age. How hindsight skews these memories, or shines light on them, bringing into focus a previously unseen reality.

The narrative switches back and forth between the present, with Becky recovering, and her past with Zoe. While doing this, Barron explores the theme of memories and their unreliability. How our memories are not perfect. Each person remembers an event differently, and some memories can be repressed entirely.

I believe this is Barron’s first foray into fiction. An extremely enjoyable read, well written, with some nice twists.

Reviewed by Neale Lucas

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Caroline Barron (Te Uri o Hau, Pākehā) is an award-winning author, manuscript assessor and book coach, book reviewer and writing teacher. Her memoir Ripiro Beach won the New Zealand Heritage Literary Award for Best Non-fiction Book in 2020. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Auckland plus a journalism degree and, in a previous life, owned and ran Nova – a leading model and talent agency. Caroline resides between Auckland and Northland’s Ripiro (Baylys) Beach, with her husband and two young daughters. Golden Days is her first work of fiction.