Book of the week
The Benefactor by Sebastian Hampson (Text) $37
Set in New York over a period of 20-something years, Sebastian Hampson’s novel, The Benefactor, mixes up one man’s search for redemption with real-life droppednames, luxury brands, restaurants, and iconic styles.
There is a walk-on part for Princess Diana, head down to avoid recognition. Four-star restaurants are menu-checked. The Stahl House in Los Angeles, Tina Brown, limited production Grand Cru Henri Giraud champagne, Christy Turlington, Wassily chairs, Diane von Furstenberg, and a Noguichi coffee-table, all make appearances.
Hampson’s first novel The Train to Paris, with its complex affair between a young man and an older woman, was written and published in 2014 when he was still a student of English and art history at Victoria University in Wellington. The Benefactor, his second, is a story of personal relationships, regret, and highstakes publishing.
Henry Calder has been an editor of a Vanity Fair-like magazine in its glory years. When he and the magazine part ways, Henry is left in his penthouse with its perfect furnishings and New York views, trying to write his memoirs. He has stopped looking for work although he still tells people he’s taking meetings and ‘‘consulting’’.
Henry has also recently been widowed, but his wife, Martha, who worked for the United Nations, seems to be more present in his thoughts than ever. Questions swim in his mind. Did they ever really know each other? There are discoveries about himself and his marriage to be made, usually accompanied by too much alcohol.
Into this near-perfect stasis comes Maggie, a young contemporary artist who doubles as a bartender. She’s whip-smart. And while Maggie might sneer, she is an oddly sympathetic ear.
Then, when Henry comes across her drunk and rescues her from police custody by offering her a place to stay, things change.
The Benefactor is a novel of transformation. It examines the way personal meaning is made and how the media creates aspirations.
However, while urban design enthusiast Hampson is writer much attracted to exteriors, his listings of consumer products and the signifiers of wealth and culture don’t have all the resonances they should.
They lack a necessary familiarity. The gloss cloaks an emptiness that is hard to ignore.
Hampson’s talent as a writer, however, is obvious.
Once The Benefactor gets into its stride, the novel becomes a crisp character study, where the actions and philosophies of the past are propelled towards an unexpected crisis.
The resolutions, if they occur at all, are not neat.
– David Herkt