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Chappy
Daniel, un jeune homme qui a grandi en Europe mais se sent sans attache, part à la recherche de ses origines à l'autre bout du monde, dans un village de Nouvelle-Zélande. Là-bas, il enregistre par bribes toute une histoire familiale, des années 1920 à aujourd'hui, et découvre ses liens avec des ancêtres non seulement néo-zélandais, mais aussi hawaïens et japonais. Les affres de la guerre dans le Pacifique et le déracinement des peuples autochtones forcés de quitter leurs terres ont marqué des générations à jamais. Assemblant les morceaux du puzzle, Daniel découvrira aussi l’incroyable histoire d’amour d’Oriwia et Chappy, ses grands-parents. Une fresque d’une grande humanité, à travers laquelle Patricia Grace nous parle du racisme, des conflits culturels, et du désir fondamental et universel d’exister. Le lecteur apprend beaucoup et se régale de cette épopée sur près d’un siècle. Ouest France. Le récit d’un peuple multiple et soudé, raconté délicatement. L’Alsace. Traduit de l’anglais (Nouvelle-Zélande) par Jean Anderson et Marie-Laure Vuaille-Barcan.
360 pages, Pocket Book
First published May 29, 2015
26 people are currently reading
696 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Grace
62 books173 followersPatricia Grace is a major New Zealand novelist, short story writer and children’s writer, of Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa descent, and is affiliated to Ngati Porou by marriage. Grace began writing early, while teaching and raising her family of seven children, and has since won many national and international awards, including the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for fiction, the Deutz Medal for Fiction, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, widely considered the most prestigious literary prize after the Nobel. A deeply subtle, moving and subversive writer, in 2007 Grace received a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to literature.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
January 16, 2022
When my friend, Kerri introduced a new race to me, I was thrilled. “The Whale Rider” was unforgettable. “Chappy” by Patricia Grace was a rich experience reaching five stars too. These Maori feel so different, the value of varied sources is clear. We fall in love with a family in 2015 at a personal level.
Daniel’s Grandma Oriwia tells her story in person and her adopted Brother, Aki records his on tape. This awesome process resulted in two keepsakes. Aki only wanted to narrate in Maori and Daniel did not speak it, so Oriwia transcribed his sessions to paper. This allowed the peers to know each other's sides and settle misunderstandings 50+ years after the fact. It furnishes for readers colourful storytelling via each person’s character, viewpoint, and heart! I must hand Patricia praise for 100% originality and empathy.
Aki saved Chappy as a cargo ship stowaway, a nickname from how the Maori pronounced “Japanese”. He became like Aki’s Brother, whom Oriwia married. Aki married Ela and adopted her two Sons in Hawaii. Daniel is Daphne’s Son, one of Oriwia’s & Chappy’s Daughters. I do not know about other readers but Patricia had me disliking one person in this extended family: Chappy!
I grant becoming overwhelmed by hardship once. I could never respect the pathetic Chappy for numerous situations in which he would have starved if someone else had not done the work to get him out. I was disgusted that he fled New Zealand, without asking his family if they preferred handling prejudice over not having him in their lives! It was unforgiveable never to call or write for years! It was Oriwia who proposed marriage, brought their Daughters to Hawaii, and dragged him home to Aotearoa.
I loved absolutely everybody else and enjoyed getting to know these Maori.
Daniel’s Grandma Oriwia tells her story in person and her adopted Brother, Aki records his on tape. This awesome process resulted in two keepsakes. Aki only wanted to narrate in Maori and Daniel did not speak it, so Oriwia transcribed his sessions to paper. This allowed the peers to know each other's sides and settle misunderstandings 50+ years after the fact. It furnishes for readers colourful storytelling via each person’s character, viewpoint, and heart! I must hand Patricia praise for 100% originality and empathy.
Aki saved Chappy as a cargo ship stowaway, a nickname from how the Maori pronounced “Japanese”. He became like Aki’s Brother, whom Oriwia married. Aki married Ela and adopted her two Sons in Hawaii. Daniel is Daphne’s Son, one of Oriwia’s & Chappy’s Daughters. I do not know about other readers but Patricia had me disliking one person in this extended family: Chappy!
I grant becoming overwhelmed by hardship once. I could never respect the pathetic Chappy for numerous situations in which he would have starved if someone else had not done the work to get him out. I was disgusted that he fled New Zealand, without asking his family if they preferred handling prejudice over not having him in their lives! It was unforgiveable never to call or write for years! It was Oriwia who proposed marriage, brought their Daughters to Hawaii, and dragged him home to Aotearoa.
I loved absolutely everybody else and enjoyed getting to know these Maori.
November 5, 2020
I absolutely loved this. I plan to read all of Patricia Grace's books and this was a a great one. The cover of this is a favourite though I find it hard to say why. Something about it just appeals to me and it also fits the book perfectly.
The story that unfolds as a young man pieces together the story of his Japanese grandfather, Chappy Star, from accounts given from his grandmother Oriwia and his Uncle Aki. His uncle tells his story in Maori, recored on tape, which Oriwia then translates into English, along with her notes and her side of things.
I got completely caught up in the love story between Oriwia and Chappy and their family and was sad to reach the end.
Patricia Grace writes in a way that I really love and I look to reading more of her stories. 💖🌸🌺🌱⭐
The story that unfolds as a young man pieces together the story of his Japanese grandfather, Chappy Star, from accounts given from his grandmother Oriwia and his Uncle Aki. His uncle tells his story in Maori, recored on tape, which Oriwia then translates into English, along with her notes and her side of things.
I got completely caught up in the love story between Oriwia and Chappy and their family and was sad to reach the end.
Patricia Grace writes in a way that I really love and I look to reading more of her stories. 💖🌸🌺🌱⭐
July 14, 2015
3.5 stars.
...Like my grandmother I can enjoy an conundrum for it's own sake. Not everything in the world has to be understood.
& on that basis I can certainly enjoy this book by one of New Zealand's most eminent writers. The prose is beautiful & I could quite happily read & let the prose wash over me.
But the multiple first person POV really confused me & I had to keep backtracking to make sure I was following was the one I thought I was following.
& in spite of the above quote (near the end of the book) was told not shown quite a bit of what motivated the enigmatic Chappy.
Minor quibble that I hope is fixed for overseas readers - no translation or explanations of the few words of Maori. .How hard would a footnote mihimihi to greet, pay tribute, thank be?
& this is rare for me. I didn't like the cover before I started the book, but it totally suits the book & I love it now.
...Like my grandmother I can enjoy an conundrum for it's own sake. Not everything in the world has to be understood.
& on that basis I can certainly enjoy this book by one of New Zealand's most eminent writers. The prose is beautiful & I could quite happily read & let the prose wash over me.
But the multiple first person POV really confused me & I had to keep backtracking to make sure I was following was the one I thought I was following.
& in spite of the above quote (near the end of the book) was told not shown quite a bit of what motivated the enigmatic Chappy.
Minor quibble that I hope is fixed for overseas readers - no translation or explanations of the few words of Maori. .How hard would a footnote mihimihi to greet, pay tribute, thank be?
& this is rare for me. I didn't like the cover before I started the book, but it totally suits the book & I love it now.
November 28, 2022
This is a very interesting historical novel about a Maori family and a Japanese migrant starting before WW2.
The plot of this book was very interesting, and the writing style mimics that of oral narration, which makes total sense, but I didn't really like it. It felt a bit dry, devoid of much feeling. Very interesting story though!
The plot of this book was very interesting, and the writing style mimics that of oral narration, which makes total sense, but I didn't really like it. It felt a bit dry, devoid of much feeling. Very interesting story though!
October 23, 2022
Patricia Grace is a Māori author and her novel Chappy has mainly Māori characters. It tells the long story of Chappy, ( the Māori pronunciation of Japanese) a Japanese stowaway who marries a Māori woman and integrates into her family. During world war 2 he disappears, afraid he will cause trouble for his Māori wife, family as well as children he now has. He is eventually caught and sent to a internment camp and is deported. The novel spans 60 years telling the story of their separation and reunification. I very much enjoyed Patricia Graces writing. I didn’t know that much about Māori culture, so it drew me into another world.
February 23, 2016
I have been introduced to this author through an online book discussion focusing on Australian and New Zealand writers.
The story begins with a young man, Daniel, who is sent to New Zealand from Europe to find some direction in his life. He feels rootless: ‘I am dust blowing anywhere or nowhere.’ When his mother decides he should reconnect with his heritage she tells him to find out about his mysterious grandfather, Chappy.
Chappy has deserted the Japanese army in the lead-up to WW2 and is a stowaway found by Aki, a ship’s Maori crewman. Aki can’t pronounce ‘Japan’ and calls the man ‘Chappy’. Aki manages to get Chappy into New Zealand illegally, where he is adopted and supported by Aki’s clan and where he eventually marries Oriwia, Daniel’s grandmother. But, as a result of the war, New Zealand is a land where ‘Japan is not loved’. This leads to community stress, relationship strain and many departures and reunions.
The story that Daniel pieces together is told in alternate chapters by Aki and by Oriwia and in two main settings, New Zealand (or Aotearoa as it is known to the Maori) and Hawaii where Aki marries into another Polynesian clan. The settings and cultures are conveyed in subtle and affectionate prose. Aki and Oriwia each develops a strong and individual voice and a rounded and complex character. However, Chappy remains elusive and enigmatic.
It took me a while to get into this novel but I was gradually drawn in to the characters and the mid-twentieth century history of the Maori people and ended up really liking the book. The author, Patricia Grace identifies herself as Maori and writes convincingly about her Maori characters and their strong community culture.
The story begins with a young man, Daniel, who is sent to New Zealand from Europe to find some direction in his life. He feels rootless: ‘I am dust blowing anywhere or nowhere.’ When his mother decides he should reconnect with his heritage she tells him to find out about his mysterious grandfather, Chappy.
Chappy has deserted the Japanese army in the lead-up to WW2 and is a stowaway found by Aki, a ship’s Maori crewman. Aki can’t pronounce ‘Japan’ and calls the man ‘Chappy’. Aki manages to get Chappy into New Zealand illegally, where he is adopted and supported by Aki’s clan and where he eventually marries Oriwia, Daniel’s grandmother. But, as a result of the war, New Zealand is a land where ‘Japan is not loved’. This leads to community stress, relationship strain and many departures and reunions.
The story that Daniel pieces together is told in alternate chapters by Aki and by Oriwia and in two main settings, New Zealand (or Aotearoa as it is known to the Maori) and Hawaii where Aki marries into another Polynesian clan. The settings and cultures are conveyed in subtle and affectionate prose. Aki and Oriwia each develops a strong and individual voice and a rounded and complex character. However, Chappy remains elusive and enigmatic.
It took me a while to get into this novel but I was gradually drawn in to the characters and the mid-twentieth century history of the Maori people and ended up really liking the book. The author, Patricia Grace identifies herself as Maori and writes convincingly about her Maori characters and their strong community culture.
November 23, 2017
I hope that there will be a sequel to this book, because this story left me wanting to know more about Chappy. Chappy is a Japanese stowaway who ends up in New Zealand, where he meets Oriwia, a Maori woman. Daniel, advised by his mother, leaves his aimless and privileged life in Switzerland to go to Aotearoa. With his grandmother and his uncle, Aki, Daniel is supposed to learn where he comes from and about the hardships of life. However, it is Chappy's story which will pave the road for him to settle down.
The story, interspersed with Maori culture and facts about Japan during WWII, is told in alternating chapters through the points of view of Oriwia and her brother, Aki. However, this is not a book about WWII or Maori culture; this is the story of how circumstances –or destiny– continuously drove Oriwia and Chappy to be together and apart.
I really liked this book. The whole reading experience felt like listening to your elders telling you their stories, going back and forth, bringing new characters into the story and making connection upon connection as in a family tree. I am wondering if Patricia Grace intents to write a sequel to this book. Even though this is a work of fiction, Chappy's life account was so enthralling that I would love to read about his early life in Japan before WWII.
The story, interspersed with Maori culture and facts about Japan during WWII, is told in alternating chapters through the points of view of Oriwia and her brother, Aki. However, this is not a book about WWII or Maori culture; this is the story of how circumstances –or destiny– continuously drove Oriwia and Chappy to be together and apart.
I really liked this book. The whole reading experience felt like listening to your elders telling you their stories, going back and forth, bringing new characters into the story and making connection upon connection as in a family tree. I am wondering if Patricia Grace intents to write a sequel to this book. Even though this is a work of fiction, Chappy's life account was so enthralling that I would love to read about his early life in Japan before WWII.
June 1, 2018
I loved the scope of this book, the linking together of characters and places over time, the connections between Maori and Japanese and Hawai'ian cultures. The characters were well drawn, especially Oriwia - the only one I wanted more of was Daniel, her grandson, who was the one discovering and drawing out this story of his family and heritage. He, however, stayed pretty much in the background as an observer, but it would have been good to get more insight into his emotional reactions as the story was revealed.
June 9, 2015
What a beautiful story. I could not put it down. I loved the pure New Zealand flavour.
June 14, 2018
Starting this as a buddy read with my friend Keriann for round the world book club.
Slow to get the gist of initially, working out the characters. Easy reading style and mainly character driven so far.
Enjoying reading with my book tube bestie :-)
Slow to get the gist of initially, working out the characters. Easy reading style and mainly character driven so far.
Enjoying reading with my book tube bestie :-)
March 17, 2016
You know when you start reading a Patricia Grace book that you are in the hands of a master. From the first words, there is just this wonderful sense of being enveloped and absorbed in what you are reading. Not only because she is such a New Zealand writer, so deeply in tune with her roots, the land and the people, but because she writes from the heart, achingly so of people and their relationships with each other. It is a wonderful experience to read her.
This is such a modern New Zealand story, about family, the land, the search for identity and belonging, the strong tug and pull for home that any NZer who has lived elsewhere knows and feels deep inside. 21 year old Daniel does not know this longing, as he has spent all his life living outside NZ with his expat parents. He has come to live for a time with his grandmother Oriwia in her small New Zealand town. Her family, like most Maori, is deeply entrenched in the local area, close links to each other and to the land. Her brother Aki, also elderly, lives nearby and between the two of them, Daniel learns his own roots, where he has come from, and the strange story of his grandfather Chappy. In his younger days, Aki was a seaman, and one voyage found himself as an unwitting accomplice in the smuggling of Chappy, a Japanese stowaway fleeing from the Japanese invasion of China in the early 1930s, into New Zealand. Given the name Chappy by Aki, not knowing a word of English let alone Maori, he is embraced by the small rural Maori community he finds himself in. Marrying, having children, working, contributing his skills to the wealth of his family, Chappy ends up having a very fortunate life, although it has its challenges along the way - WWII and internment; the colder climate and the health issues he came to NZ with; his guilt at leaving his family in Japan. Moving between NZ and Hawaii, across three generations of family, Daniel hears the story of Oriwia, Aki and Chappy, and in turn himself. Such a good story, such a treat to read such great writing.
This is such a modern New Zealand story, about family, the land, the search for identity and belonging, the strong tug and pull for home that any NZer who has lived elsewhere knows and feels deep inside. 21 year old Daniel does not know this longing, as he has spent all his life living outside NZ with his expat parents. He has come to live for a time with his grandmother Oriwia in her small New Zealand town. Her family, like most Maori, is deeply entrenched in the local area, close links to each other and to the land. Her brother Aki, also elderly, lives nearby and between the two of them, Daniel learns his own roots, where he has come from, and the strange story of his grandfather Chappy. In his younger days, Aki was a seaman, and one voyage found himself as an unwitting accomplice in the smuggling of Chappy, a Japanese stowaway fleeing from the Japanese invasion of China in the early 1930s, into New Zealand. Given the name Chappy by Aki, not knowing a word of English let alone Maori, he is embraced by the small rural Maori community he finds himself in. Marrying, having children, working, contributing his skills to the wealth of his family, Chappy ends up having a very fortunate life, although it has its challenges along the way - WWII and internment; the colder climate and the health issues he came to NZ with; his guilt at leaving his family in Japan. Moving between NZ and Hawaii, across three generations of family, Daniel hears the story of Oriwia, Aki and Chappy, and in turn himself. Such a good story, such a treat to read such great writing.
August 6, 2016
Chappy is one of the titles longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for Fiction, and it’s also a literary ‘event’ in its own right because it’s Patricia Grace’s first novel in ten years. I loved it; it’s a beautiful, satisfying story exploring the adjustments people must make when there are cross-cultural relationships. Like other novels by Patricia Grace that I’ve read, it also features themes of belonging, social change and cultural disruption, and the responsibilities of family life.
The book begins in Europe, with a prologue about Daniel, a discontented young man of Maori and Danish heritage, who lacks the initiative to sort himself out. His mother, a smart successful woman with a career of her own, makes the decision for him: if he’s not going to pull himself together and get on with his studies, he must go ‘home’ to his relations in New Zealand where he will soon learn just how privileged he is.
So this is what he does, and along with learning to share the work of the household and farm, he becomes absorbed in the family’s history.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2016/02/17/ch...
The book begins in Europe, with a prologue about Daniel, a discontented young man of Maori and Danish heritage, who lacks the initiative to sort himself out. His mother, a smart successful woman with a career of her own, makes the decision for him: if he’s not going to pull himself together and get on with his studies, he must go ‘home’ to his relations in New Zealand where he will soon learn just how privileged he is.
So this is what he does, and along with learning to share the work of the household and farm, he becomes absorbed in the family’s history.
To read the rest of my review please visit http://anzlitlovers.com/2016/02/17/ch...
May 14, 2018
This literary and descriptive book is sadly not for me, in the first 50 pages I found it difficult to keep my attention on the story or the characters, to me it felt strangely hollow and lacking in emotional depth that I was hoping to get.
With my new dnf rule and so many books to read I have decided I will not continue any further with this novel.
With my new dnf rule and so many books to read I have decided I will not continue any further with this novel.
May 15, 2018
The start of this book was quite confusing and disjointed for me but once I got into it after several tries, it made more sense and I ended up enjoying it. Why if three stars for me mainly because I wasn’t eager to pick it up and read on but overall good writing and gentle telling of the grandfather and his backstory with the young man’s grandmother.
October 31, 2020
While it was a little slow to kick off, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A really unique story across generations of Māori New Zealanders, giving insight into the changes of culture across the decades. Grace has a way of weaving stories across one another and building characters layer by layer that really hook you in.
December 28, 2022
Patricia Grace is …….. Patricia Grace and everything she writes is sensitive and thoughtful and humorous and full of pathos and opens up the world of rural māori New Zealand from a historical yet contemporary perspective. Wealthy spoiled, Europeanised Daniel is sent back to New Zealand to his maternal grandmother, Oriwia to find his roots. In his interviews with Oriwia and his Great Uncle Aki he gradually finds out the history of his family and especially of his Japanese grandfather, Chappy. Grace’s characters are wonderful, her descriptions vivid and clear but she also very matter of factly portrays what New Zealand was like for māori in the first half of the twentieth century. This is a typically Graceful novel.
March 13, 2025
I do have a lot to say about this book but I’ll probably save all that for my essays and stuff😁
So, so simple yet effective in my opinion. A really beautiful book that I couldn’t put down. It didn’t change my life but I thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing. I would maybe give it a 3.5 if that was possible but I can live with the 4. I think if you want something easy to read this will be a great pick for you.
So, so simple yet effective in my opinion. A really beautiful book that I couldn’t put down. It didn’t change my life but I thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing. I would maybe give it a 3.5 if that was possible but I can live with the 4. I think if you want something easy to read this will be a great pick for you.
June 18, 2025
Chappy is very slow at times but it's a heartwarming read. Though I feel like it dragged on sometimes, I enjoyed it and it's one of the best books I've read that takes place in New Zealand. I really liked how it explored the connection between different cultures and the characters are all interesting, unique and have depth.
April 3, 2023
damn this book was actually so good why did i procrastinate reading it so much
June 23, 2025
Yeah good
July 21, 2024
First read:
Finally I am done.
Finally I am done.
March 2, 2025
I read this for class lucky it was so nice!! A really meaningful text with a unique storyline and lots of wisdom to impart. Now I need to read a bunch more Patricia Grace.
August 27, 2025
Interesting that although this book had a great focus on the character and background of Chappy, he held little interest for me and I found it hard to imagine him as Japanese. His wife was a stronger and more interesting character. I enjoyed the Māori and historical content .
November 1, 2015
The prologue had me captured straight away and I thought wow this is going to be a great book but sadly I was very disappointed. I actually re-read the first few pages of chapter 1 repeatedly thinking I had opened a different book by accident as the prologue seemed so very different. I enjoyed the story and loved hearing the stories of old especially from my home country. I absolutely loved these bits I just didn't enjoy Patricias style of writing as it was back and forth and from him to her. It was just very jumpy and all over the place.
September 20, 2015
I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. It was a fairly easy read and gave me some interesting insights about my adopted country from a different perspective. I haven't read Patricia Grace before - but I will do again. This story is about relationships and finding yourself against a background of cultural differences (and similarities) - but mostly about love and respect on many different levels. I read it in two sittings.
November 13, 2015
Daniel travels to NZ to piece together the history of his Maori family.
As his relatives revisit their past he learns of the remarkable love story between his Maori grandmother Oriwia and his Japanese grandfather Chappy.
A touching story, exploring racial intoerance, cross-cultural conflicts and the universal desire to belong.
As his relatives revisit their past he learns of the remarkable love story between his Maori grandmother Oriwia and his Japanese grandfather Chappy.
A touching story, exploring racial intoerance, cross-cultural conflicts and the universal desire to belong.
June 23, 2016
My first Patricia Grace novel. It took a little while for me to adapt to the different voices and times in this book but once in that rhythm it was an easy and enjoyable read.
A lovely story about family about what makes people who they are, about living and loving and finding a place in the world.
A lovely story about family about what makes people who they are, about living and loving and finding a place in the world.
January 6, 2016
How much a life can hold and span. And how it is held together through connections: to people, land, and work. Deeply moving.
February 25, 2018
I found this story hard to get into, but by the end I loved them all a little bit.
March 27, 2023
Wow, another absolute wow. The book is deceptively easy to read and holds such a large swathe of indigenous history. Vivre books festival held a workshop by Gina Cole (Na Viro). We had long in-depth discussions about writing about someone else's culture. It was pretty much agreed that you can’t, as a pakeha (white European) write about Te Maori Ora.
And yet Patricia Grace has written a book about a Japanese stowaway, an illegal immigrant and his life with a Maori community. The book starts with 21-year-old Daniel. He’s been sent from a privileged European life to live with his Maori grandmother Oriwai. He hopes to learn to muck in and understand how blessed he is.
As well as learning about his own heritage, he discovers he has a Japanese grandfather Chappie. Daniel interviews his grandmother and his twice-adopted Uncle Aki. He learns his turangawaewae and his family history from the early 1920s until now.
I found this book gripping and read it over one weekend. I lived racism, Maori, Indian, Chinese, German, Japanese and Hawaiian. Grace is a subtle writer who doesn’t hit you over the head. She leaves it up to the reader to determine what is happening.
I adored the Maori heritage, and the wonderful pride Aki has in his family and ancestors. The family plot twists rival The Thorn birds in their complexity. The characters are real, flawed messy and they leave you laughing and weeping in the same breath. All though they feel very, very real.
World War II destroyed and uprooted many families. It is easy to paint the Japanese as the bad guys. If you watch Colin Firth in The Railway Man and take a look at the extended trailers, you learn that Japanese common men were beaten and brutalised into fighting. Chappy is escaping the Japanese invasion of China.
He ends up in New Zealand after stowing away and is rescued by Aki, who takes him home to his whanau. He becomes adopted and marries Oriwai, and has two children. All is well until WWII and the attack on pearl harbour.
There is so much more, but the bit I liked about this book is the magic realism. The Maori and Hawaiian spiritual worlds are woven into the book. Oriwai is pragmatic, but Aki carries sadness with him. We learn about it in time, but the book is full of the wonderful pacific spirituality commonplace.
I love patupaiarehe, taniwha and Moon face carried by his brother. I felt privileged to learn of the way the Hawaiians see the world and how the Americans stole it from them.
Grace cleverly takes us through the depression, NZ white racism, and the loss of ancestral land in Oriwai life. But Oriwai and Aki and their whole family are exactly the way I see the Maori of then and now. Survivors, mercurial business people and thrivers in changing worlds where the odds are not always in their favour.
We also travel the pacific in steamships, live the private life of the Maori and survive the bombing of Pearl Harbour. All of this is the background to Aki, Chappy, Oriwai, and their families' lives. They don’t always get on, but they are family, and slowly Daniel finds a sense of self and connection.
I would use this book as a text to study for national exams. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to come and live in NZ and far more interesting than Man Alone, which we suffered through in my school certificate days.
If you are interested in NZ, like WWII history, want to learn about the Maori people, love Grimms Fairy tales and love reading Phillipa Gregory, then this is for you. Warning, if you pick it up and get past the first two chapters, you may have to give away the rest of the day. It is a page-turner. This is a forever book, and as soon as I have my library back, I will find a copy and put it in there.
And yet Patricia Grace has written a book about a Japanese stowaway, an illegal immigrant and his life with a Maori community. The book starts with 21-year-old Daniel. He’s been sent from a privileged European life to live with his Maori grandmother Oriwai. He hopes to learn to muck in and understand how blessed he is.
As well as learning about his own heritage, he discovers he has a Japanese grandfather Chappie. Daniel interviews his grandmother and his twice-adopted Uncle Aki. He learns his turangawaewae and his family history from the early 1920s until now.
I found this book gripping and read it over one weekend. I lived racism, Maori, Indian, Chinese, German, Japanese and Hawaiian. Grace is a subtle writer who doesn’t hit you over the head. She leaves it up to the reader to determine what is happening.
I adored the Maori heritage, and the wonderful pride Aki has in his family and ancestors. The family plot twists rival The Thorn birds in their complexity. The characters are real, flawed messy and they leave you laughing and weeping in the same breath. All though they feel very, very real.
World War II destroyed and uprooted many families. It is easy to paint the Japanese as the bad guys. If you watch Colin Firth in The Railway Man and take a look at the extended trailers, you learn that Japanese common men were beaten and brutalised into fighting. Chappy is escaping the Japanese invasion of China.
He ends up in New Zealand after stowing away and is rescued by Aki, who takes him home to his whanau. He becomes adopted and marries Oriwai, and has two children. All is well until WWII and the attack on pearl harbour.
There is so much more, but the bit I liked about this book is the magic realism. The Maori and Hawaiian spiritual worlds are woven into the book. Oriwai is pragmatic, but Aki carries sadness with him. We learn about it in time, but the book is full of the wonderful pacific spirituality commonplace.
I love patupaiarehe, taniwha and Moon face carried by his brother. I felt privileged to learn of the way the Hawaiians see the world and how the Americans stole it from them.
Grace cleverly takes us through the depression, NZ white racism, and the loss of ancestral land in Oriwai life. But Oriwai and Aki and their whole family are exactly the way I see the Maori of then and now. Survivors, mercurial business people and thrivers in changing worlds where the odds are not always in their favour.
We also travel the pacific in steamships, live the private life of the Maori and survive the bombing of Pearl Harbour. All of this is the background to Aki, Chappy, Oriwai, and their families' lives. They don’t always get on, but they are family, and slowly Daniel finds a sense of self and connection.
I would use this book as a text to study for national exams. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to come and live in NZ and far more interesting than Man Alone, which we suffered through in my school certificate days.
If you are interested in NZ, like WWII history, want to learn about the Maori people, love Grimms Fairy tales and love reading Phillipa Gregory, then this is for you. Warning, if you pick it up and get past the first two chapters, you may have to give away the rest of the day. It is a page-turner. This is a forever book, and as soon as I have my library back, I will find a copy and put it in there.
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