THE WINGMAKER

Mette Jakobsen TEXT, RRP $24.99

Vega is a specialist in restoring marble but the statue of angel that a museum has asked her to fix is the most difficult project she has ever taken on. Luckily, her father, Vince, has just bought an oceanside hotel that while it is being renovated is pretty much empty, giving her plenty of room to work and sort the many pieces of fractured angel wing. Unfortunately, Vince did not tell her it was cold, damp, rundown and being looked after by a not-sohandy man who has plenty of problems of his own. The old chandeliers are also the home to dive-bombing canaries. The combination, together with the broken angel, should add up to a depressing read, but once you add Vega’s sister, who reveals a useful hidden talent, and a local band of tango-dancing farmers, there are enough comic moments to have readers believing that Vega can put both the angel and her own life back together again.

BARRY REYNOLDS VERDICT: Faith restored