Cousins was not enough for me (and it will not be enough for you readers who want more beautiful Maori literary fiction), so I have picked up Potiki by New Zealand literary powerhouse Patricia Grace. Not only is she one of New Zealand’s most iconic writers, but her family dramas and literary fiction where family and community are at the heart of the story are unparalleled.

A Maori community on the coast of New Zealand is threatened by a land developer who wants to purchase the community property, move the community meeting hall, and construct many new buildings, including an “underwater zoo.” The story is told in several chapters that switch narrators. Sometimes, it is Hemi, a man who was laid off from his job and realizes that this situation affords him the opportunity to reconnect with the land, his culture and his family. Other times, Toko is the narrator. Toko is Hemi’s adopted son and is physically handicapped. However, he also has a sixth sense and can see events before they occur. Mostly, though, the story is told by Roimata, Hemi’s wife and Toko’s adoptive mother. She relates the growing concern the Maori have about developers coming into their land, and their quiet, concerted efforts to rebel. She details their successes and many painful failures in a sparse, simple prose. The book does not really have a true resolution; instead, Patricia Grace outlines the cultural differences that exist in New Zealand, and the uses and abuses of power, and how it can affect a people.

If you are an avid literary fiction reader, then you need to add Potiki and Patricia Grace’s work to your reading lists asap. Patricia Grace has an incredible writing style and narrative voice which incorporates lovely vivid description with an insight into characters and human beings that makes the passaes sing. It breeds a presence within the text that is reflective, emotive, and alive. Not only is her work on par with many great literary fiction writers, but her work has a musicality and poetic essence to it which rounds the story out. The description dances on the page, letting the flow and reader’s pace judge the tempo. The emotion is engaging, hooking the reader in and keeping them close to heart as the prose develops, rising and falling with the notes of music Patricia Grace has orchastrated. A light flitter of happiness here, a low echo of grief there, and the rolling hum of action, community, resistance, and conflict reaching a high. It feels like a wholly immersive experience reading a Patricia Grace novel, and Potiki embodies that sentiment to its core.

Not only are family dramas a staple of Patricia Grace’s work, but her characeters are living breathing beings on the page. From the eldest to the youngest, her characters are always given the bones and structure of real people, they have their quirks and personalities, and the children are kernels of truth bought to light. It makes it so easy to then show the love and care among them, the tight-knit community that surrounds them, and the importance of such cultural keystones as language, heritage, history, and values. It is through her depiction of her characters and the children especially that the themes and messages of her work are drawn out, the focus clear, and the meanings rich and delibrate. Patricia Grace’s work is definitely character-driven, and the character focus lends itself beautifully to the narrative structure and voice that comes through.

I implore you all to pick up Potiki and spend an afternoon soaking up the brilliance of this novel. It is a kiwi classic, a pinnacle of Maori literature and New Zealand literature. it is a stellar read well worthy of its Penguin Orange collection print, and I know I will be searching through the other 10 NZ books printed alongside Potiki from more kiwi classics over the summer.