Catton piqued my interested after her success with 'The Luminaries', which I'm yet to read. However, I stumbled across her debut novel (preceding Luminaries-hype) 'The Rehearsal', in a recent book trawl. In many ways, this does feel very much like a "first novel"; a little unfinished, not entirely refined, and very ambitious - perhaps overly so. Nonetheless, Catton's attention to characterisation and her linguistic flair (which smacks you in the face Irvine Welsh-style) alert the reader that she is certainly one to watch. A highly enjoyable and theatrical read, which cleverly weaves between a collection of fascinatingly average characters. Catton deftly moves between generations; she portrays the school age (including the aspiring actor, the 'hot young thing', overshadowed younger sister, and the /barely/ suppressed lesbian student) as devastatingly as the mature cast (the hackneyed drama teachers, divorced father, derisive saxophone teacher, and molly-coddling parents.... the list goes on). Occasionally jarring, and stylistically challenging - but overall, a fantastic work of debut fiction. Much respect to Catton.