Reading the World discussion

Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel is a coming-of-age novel set in a Samoan village, told through the voice of teenage Alofa Filiga. Blending poetry and prose in a uniquely Samoan storytelling style, the book explores themes of identity, tradition, gender expectations, and the tension between individual freedom and communal life. Alofa navigates adolescence amidst cultural pressures, family secrets, and the lingering effects of colonialism and missionary influence. The novel offers a raw, lyrical, and unflinching look at what it means to grow up female in a tightly knit society.

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Summary & Key Themes

Full Title: Where We Once Belonged
Author: Sia Figiel
Setting: The fictional village of Malaefou, Samoa
Narrative Style: Episodic, blending poetry, prose, and Samoan oral/storytelling tradition called su’ifefiloi — loosely “a woven garland of stories.”

Plot / Story Arc

The protagonist is Alofa Filiga, whose adolescent years (about ages 13 to 17) are the focus.

Alofa lives in Malaefou, Samoa, where the tension between tradition, religious norms, colonial legacy, and individual desire shapes daily life.

She contends with:

rigid gender expectations and the scrutiny of her community

family dynamics, domestic violence (which is normalized in parts)

the slow unfolding of her sexuality in a community where girls are tightly watched

the conflict between the “we” (community, family) and the individual “I” — in her society, nothing happens in private. “I does not exist… ‘I’ is always ‘we’.”

issues of colonial influence, Christian missionary doctrine, and how Western expectations have reshaped social norms in Samoa.

Alofa eventually moves to live with an aunt to pursue her education—this is a turning point in her struggle to assert selfhood.

🧠 Strengths & Challenges

Strengths:

Authentic voice: The mixing of Samoan language and storytelling style brings you inside the culture.

Cultural critique & depth: It’s not a romanticized island paradise. Figiel interrogates how colonialism and Christian missions have shaped mores and power.

Emotional honesty: The novel doesn’t shy from violence or the cost of silence, especially for young women under a patriarchal system.

Poetic, episodic structure: The fragments and interwoven stories mirror adolescence—disordered, exploratory, moody.

Challenges:

The episodic, non-linear structure (su’ifefiloi) can be disorienting if you prefer chronological narratives.

Some Samoan words or cultural references are not glossed for meaning, which can create moments of ambiguity or “I feel I missed something.”

The themes can be heavy—domestic violence, social shame, moral enforcement—so it’s not a “light read.”

I won't be reading this one because I read The Girl in the Moon Circle which has the same heavy topics but with a 10-year-old. Although, I'm glad I read it, it did not make for a light read and I'm not sure I can do it again right now.

Interesting story about the author that I learned when attempting to do more research on her after I had finished the book. She is in jail for the 2024 murder of her mentor and friend, poet and academic Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard, potentially over a heated literary dispute regarding Sinavaiana-Gabbard's opinion of Sigel's public reading of the Vagina Monologues in conservative Samoa.

That is wild, thanks for sharing Gail. I had no idea about that when I recommended the book. Still definitely going to read this later this month.

So I did read it and gave it 4 stars, I'm not sure if I was separating the art from the artist here or if this was a insight into the traumas someone who would kill another writer over calling them too open to sex/discussing women's bodies might have.

The writing was beautiful in a grounded human way, even when- maybe especially when- speaking about horrific trauma that many girls in the book go through. But yes, as Celia wrote above, there are parts of the book where the narrative voice normalizes domestic abuse but I'm not quite sure if the author is suggesting 'love hurts' like some people do, or if that is just supposed to be an expression of the viewpoints of an abused person. Maybe both.

I do also appreciate that it doesn't give a one sided "tradition good, modernization evil' take that some anti-colonial writing can fall into the trap of. Collectivism can be a support network or a trap where you are dependent on abusers/a community that will protect them. Once again, maybe both.