Kōhine

by Colleen Maria Lenihan

Tokyo is a humming backdrop to an array of outsiders: a young woman arrives to work as a stripper, the manager of a love hotel hatches a sleazy plan, a spirit wanders Harajuku, and a mother embarks on a sad journey. Linked through recurring characters and themes, these haunting stories hurtle us into the streets of Tokyo and small-town New Zealand. The secular city of salarymen, sex workers and schoolgirls is juxtaposed with rongoā healers, lone men and rural matriarchs of Aotearoa.

Genres: Short Stories

232 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2022

About the author

Colleen (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) is a short story writer and TV writer.

Reviews

[Trudie · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is some solid writing here and the central story about mother and daughter is powerful. But I wish this was more cohesive or preferably a novella with the story told in some kind of chronological order with all the characters properly introduced ( yep I am old-fashioned like that ).

The story is powerful enough to stand on its own without fracturing it into so many confusing bits. Bouncing from Japan to NZ and back and forwards in time with characters that start to merge into each other, I admit I lost some traction with this by the end. The random insertion of talking crows ..certainly did not endear me.

I acknowledge my bias towards novels over and above the short story form so I am not the best judge of this debut collection.

[Bells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep feels. All the glory, grime and pain of less told characters and stories in Aotearoa and Japan shared so eloquently. Maia and Aria’s mother-daughter relationship is particularly heart wrenching. Thank you my dear friend Zarina for this recommendation.

[Venice White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a gut-wrenching, poetic and devastating collection of short stories, that flickered between Aotearoa and Japan, united by grief and identity and finding a place to belong. The book includes many different characters and storylines, but Maia and Aria are the two recurring anchors – yet there was such an intense focus on other singular characters, that I was caught off guard at times, not realising that I was reading about the same Maia, just from a different perspective or in a different time. A verbal tapestry.

Without wanting to give anything away, Maia’s story and experiences are heartbreaking and her grief was somehow harder to read about once I read the story about her as a child.

It was both confronting and incredible to read about the different sides to Japan and New Zealand – from young girls being sexualised in their school uniforms, peep shows, neglected children and miserable teenagers, to bright cities, beautiful relationships and natural environments. They coexisted within this book much as they do in real life. There was also the same surreal effect as reading Greta and Valdin of coming across familiar spaces on the page – where one story took place at the MKWC (which I had walked past just days before reading this part) and another story in the Hokianga and Rāwene in particular (where I had spent a weekend the month before). The detailed descriptions and use of Māori and Japanese words and phrases made the stories even more rich and placed you as a reader so firmly in each place.

I was so moved by the end that I was both grieving finishing the book, as well as one particular character – the loss of whom, by then, felt personal. I also never knew the mythology of crows and their connection to death, but their presence (and perspective) made the themes of grief and loss even more pertinent. Reading books like this make me feel that I can’t even capture my opinion, or even provide one, because the stories I’ve read were just so beautiful, honest and devastating that I’d be better off lying down in the grass, staring at the cloudy sky and processing it all. Let me know when you’ve read this so you can join me. I’ll be here a while.

[Jordan Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story refracts, dissolves and stitches itself back together in a sweeping multi-generational arc that bounces between Aotearoa and Japan, capturing each through a perspective so Māori.... Beautiful

[Tessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection all the way through. It was equally devastating, vivid, refreshing, and haunting. It was an all-encompassing, very real exploration of grief in all forms, personal and generational. I loved the recurring characters Maia and Aria, and how each story felt like it stood on its own but was connected to the broader world love the book. Also loved the exploration of being Māori in Japan and abroad- even though it was on a very individual level for each character, I think this is a cool perspective to explore generally. My favourite stories were 'Pepe Tuna', 'Little Miss Paranoid', and 'Directions'.

[Te Aniwaniwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect but loved reading this. It's complex and layered but threaded together nicely. It's very well-made. The subject matter is sad and heavy and parts are 😬😬😬. I appreciated the spiritual elements, especially the haerenga it reminded me of what my pāpā have said at tangi, about the journey the wairua takes

[Becca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really thought I was going to like this but the writing felt really forced… There would be a line or two where it would relax and start to flow but not often! I gave it a good 6 or so attempts ‘cos I never (and I mean never) don’t finish a book I start, but I couldn’t get through this one

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go Colleen!!! I absolutely adored

[Fin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heavy, sad, intense. Would not choose to read again but did enjoy the Māori and Japanese references.

[Johanna Cosgrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely masterful, piercing and gorgeous collection. Colleen Lenihan is a genius.

[Rosetta Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book of strength and beauty. It's so rare to see this kind of vulnerability expressed in such powerful language and in such a beautiful book. I adore it. Each story felt real, deep, and meaningful. There is no candyfloss here, and I salute the author for this authenticity.

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

mesmerising technical control over technique, voice, and structure — sometimes this felt too clean, like the writing had been peeled back to the bone, creating an illusion that the stories were being read through a glass screen, out of reach, but more often than not the grief was palpable through every word, slicing itself through stories where on the surface it may not have been present. i really enjoyed the interweaving of a central story — although this whole collection felt interwoven even when there was no indication one story existed within another — as it especially revealed characters in different places of their life that you don’t ever get in a linear structure. the voice of all the characters who were children were so excellent. few of the stories fell flat to me, but one or two i didn’t love, but overall felt fitting inside of the collection!

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fractured - some parts beautiful, some parts hard. but lacking connection. I enjoyed this but like a little more cohesion. I really liked the crow interlude!

[Zee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book filled with stories that linger with your spirit ❤️

[Caroline Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some story collections that just take hold of you; blood, sweat, death and tears stain the paragraphs and pages of the book. Kōhine has lightness, humour and sex, but there is a thread of sadness running through the stories. Set in the seedy clubs of Japan and Aotearoa, this is a stand-out debut and should have been on the Ockhams list last year. Such a goodie.

[Jessica Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning book. One of the best I've read. Heart, humour and hedonism. Love it.

[Tiff Wasley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intricately weaved and desperately heart wrenching. I like that we seemed to float from story to story and follow different threads to get a complete picture.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning collection of linked short stories. The prose is clean and crisp, the stories are alternately funny, honest, and heartbreaking — without ever being sentimental. I laughed and I cried. A wonderful book.

[JJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good! Loved the subtle ways the stories blended into each other (although there's a few I would've cut). Also just a really nice object, beautiful cover and sexy paper stock.

[Ashley Lamont · Rating 5 out of 5]

**may be some spoilers here**

It took me a moment to realise - hey, that name was in the first story and then that repeated and I got it (lol!).

This is said to be short stories but to me it is one novel but the timelines, the places and people change (or are older or younger).

It was a bit like Momento, piecing the story together as you travel through the characters lives. But I never felt lost - proof of Colleen's talent as an author.

There is real life in here too and it is told honestly (at times brutally) and beautifully. This is a book to read and re-read.

Superb

[E Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a stunning little book. Fragmented, tender, sometimes sharp enough to cut. Lenihan’s voice is fresh and intimate, and I found myself rereading certain lines just to sit with them a bit longer.
Not every story hit me equally — a couple felt more like snapshots than fully formed pieces — but the emotional honesty and cultural depth made it well worth the read. A powerful debut from an author I’ll be keeping an eye on.

[Ang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some cool ideas in the book but I personally found it a little confusing humoring all over the place, countries, times, events...

Like the intermingling of Japanese and Maori culture, language and ideas.

Loved the physical book itself, paper it is printed on is lovely, front cover graphics really amazing!

[Aleisha Amohia · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of this was really deep and heart wrenching and some of it felt really scattered and unsettling, i am glad i read it and the tokyo/nz setting was really unique and interesting to unpack but i wanted more of the central story and found some of it distracting

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it

[Ping · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself losing track of characters around two thirds of the way through. A chronological structure would make it easier to read and understand.