What do you think?
Rate this book
The Mahana Family #2
The Dream Swimmer
The Dream Swimmer continues the odyssey of Tama Mahana, grandson and heir to the matriarch, as he assumes the mantle of leadership and, with it, his grandmother's battles with the Pakeha. But at every step Tama is thwarted – by deception and intrigue, and by the woman whose destiny has intersected Riripeti's and his. She is the enigmatic Tiana, his mother, the woman of no account.
423 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 1997
3 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Witi Ihimaera
86 books351 followersWiti Ihimaera is a novelist and short story writer from New Zealand, perhaps the best-known Māori writer today. He is internationally famous for The Whale Rider.
Ihimaera lives in New Zealand and is of Māori descent and Anglo-Saxon descent through his father, Tom. He attended Church College of New Zealand in Temple View, Hamilton, New Zealand. He was the first Māori writer to publish both a novel and a book of short stories. He began to work as a diplomat at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1973, and served at various diplomatic posts in Canberra, New York, and Washington, D.C. Ihimaera remained at the Ministry until 1989, although his time there was broken by several fellowships at the University of Otago in 1975 and Victoria University of Wellington in 1982 (where he graduated with a BA).[1] In 1990, he took up a position at the University of Auckland, where he became Professor, and Distinguished Creative Fellow in Māori Literature. He retired from this position in 2010.
In 2004, his nephew Gary Christie Lewis married Lady Davina Windsor, becoming the first Māori to marry into the British Royal Family.
Ihimaera lives in New Zealand and is of Māori descent and Anglo-Saxon descent through his father, Tom. He attended Church College of New Zealand in Temple View, Hamilton, New Zealand. He was the first Māori writer to publish both a novel and a book of short stories. He began to work as a diplomat at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1973, and served at various diplomatic posts in Canberra, New York, and Washington, D.C. Ihimaera remained at the Ministry until 1989, although his time there was broken by several fellowships at the University of Otago in 1975 and Victoria University of Wellington in 1982 (where he graduated with a BA).[1] In 1990, he took up a position at the University of Auckland, where he became Professor, and Distinguished Creative Fellow in Māori Literature. He retired from this position in 2010.
In 2004, his nephew Gary Christie Lewis married Lady Davina Windsor, becoming the first Māori to marry into the British Royal Family.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 28, 2021
Not quite as impactful to read as the Matriarch, but a more mature piece of writing. The point-of-view is more detached, but never releases the critical eye which made the initial story compelling.
This intergenerational family drama is weaved across nearly a century of New Zealand history, and Ihimaera finds the right details to characterise the various eras, while continuing the blurring of fact, fiction, and myth which made the Matriarch so compelling.
The final chapters are quite moving, and the burial of Tiana gave me chills; she barely registers as a character in the Matriarch, but the digressions to fill in her personal history are highlights in the Dream Swimmer.
This intergenerational family drama is weaved across nearly a century of New Zealand history, and Ihimaera finds the right details to characterise the various eras, while continuing the blurring of fact, fiction, and myth which made the Matriarch so compelling.
The final chapters are quite moving, and the burial of Tiana gave me chills; she barely registers as a character in the Matriarch, but the digressions to fill in her personal history are highlights in the Dream Swimmer.
March 17, 2008
This for me was the kind of book that got me from the first two pages...
December 30, 2010
A marvelous book on power and violence within a family to be read after the Matriarch,
March 22, 2014
Ihimaera is a powerful storyteller and a master weaver of worlds. Could not put this book down.
July 14, 2015
If I could give this 4.5 I would. I really enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews