Band of Angels

by Witi Ihimaera

'As soon as he saw it, Miro Mananui knew what it was. An owl, its cryptic flaring with the dawn.' Who has the owl come for? Whose name has it cried out to Miro Mananui, the Matua of the village of Waituhi? In 'Band of Angels', mane lives and stories intersect. The passionate Mattie Jones bears a horrifying secret; Tama Mananui makes the most of an arranged marriage with a woman 20 years older; Nani Paora holds the key to the past and a history filled with bloodshed; and his grandson Pene may well be the key to the future. Pita Mahana's attempts to reinstate the past set in train events that lead to the return of the owl for its victims. Fuelled by passion, politics, psychic power and the search for truth, Band of Angels is another compelling novel from the master story teller Witi Ihimaera.

Paperback

First published March 28, 2005

About the author

Witi 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.

Reviews

[Crazytourists_books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange book, a mixture of fiction and historical facts about the Maori. The feeling I got while reading the historical details, was that the Pakeha, the christian white man, is responsible for unbelievable atrocities all over the world. Unbelievable. As far as the story itself, I would have liked a smaller number of characters. That would have helped the building of personality depth and connection with the reader. An interesting read overall.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot about Maori culture and history, and the difficulty of surviving within a dominate culture.

[Karin72 · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoyed