So, this book is about be There are no gay Maoris. His aunt gives him a diary written by an uncle he has never heard of and it transpires that this uncle was also gay. Michael 'comes out' to his family at the insistence of his boyfriend, who treacherously dumps him anyway, so he has no lover, no family and no roots, as he sees it, and he feels rather sorry for himself. If someone is born Maori and admits to being gay they are thrown out of their tribe, family and village and never mentioned again. But be aware that this book is confronting and contains some problematic elements.more It's heartbreaking and emotive and beautiful and compelling. So I'm giving it five stars because it truly was an amazing book. It's brutal because you know exactly how Sam and Cliff's story will end and yet you can't help getting invested in it. It's brutal because it's so compelling and so evocative and so powerful. It's brutal because it's basically a New Zealand version of Brokeback Mountain. It's brutal because it deals with homophobia in Indigenous communities. It's brutal because it deals with the harsh realities of the Vietnam War. It's split between Michael's first person narration and Sam's third person narration. It's split between New Zealand, Vietnam and America. It's split between Michael, a gay Maori man, and Sam, the uncle he never knew he had. This book is split between the 1970s and the late 2000s. I sobbed through the last 10% of the book because it broke my feelings into a million pieces. It's brutal because it deals with Oh God, my feeeeeeeeeeelings.
Now, armed with his uncle's diary, Michael goes searching for the truth about his uncle, about the secret the Mahana family has kept hidden for over thirty years, and what happened to Sam.Ī powerful love story set in the war-torn jungles of Vietnam and in present-day New Zealand and North America, Witi Ihimaera's powerful new novel courageously confronts Maori attitudes to sexuality and masculinity and contains some of Ihimaera's most passionate writing to date.more A powerful love story set in t Michael Mahana's personal disclosure to his parents leads to the uncovering of another family secret-about his uncle, Sam, who had fought in the Vietnam War. Now, armed with his uncle's diary, Michael goes searching for the truth about his uncle, about the secret the Mahana family has kept hidden for over thirty years, and what happened to Sam. Michael Mahana's personal disclosure to his parents leads to the uncovering of another family secret-about his uncle, Sam, who had fought in the Vietnam War.
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