by Witi Ihimaera
Nowadays Whanau is usually translated as family, but it’s meaning is a bit more complex than that. For this book Ihimaera is meaning the extended family and/or community in a very gentle way he covered some very serious issues of the time – the drinking culture, race relations, the gradual erosion of Māori land rights. These are some very imperfect beings, but I came to love them and I was rooting for them all – especially Nanny. This is a book where it appears that not much happens, but actually quite a bit does. | 3 |