The Angel's Cut, By Elizabeth Knox

New Zealand author, Elizabeth Knox, is never an easy read. In this sequel to her cult novel,The Vintner's Luck, we're once more introduced to Xas – an angel with a soft-spot for human lovers.

Having exchanged 19th-century Burgundy for pre-war Hollywood, Xas decides to embrace the exhilarating new field of aviation, an obsession that brings him in contact with a Howard Hughes like figure, Conrad Cole.

A more grounded presence in his life, however, proves to be Flora, a film editor with secrets of her own. Knox's evocation of Thirties California is dreamy, and her characters, interestingly warped.