The Mires by Tina Makereti, shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the Ockhams 2025, will immerse you in a tale of indigenous folklore, suspense, domestic drama, and the threat of extremism on ordinary lives. It is a magical page-turner from start to finish, and it won’t take you more than a chapter to be hooked.

Three women give birth in different countries and different decades. They eventually become neighbors in a coastal town in Aotearoa—New Zealand. Single parent Keri has her hands full with rambunctious four-year-old Walty and Wairere, a teen with a unique gift that allows her to connect to the world in extraordinary ways. Drawn to the waters of the indigenous wetlands, Wairere finds peace and solace communing with nature. Living next door is Janet, a sharply opinionated older white woman. New to the neighborhood is Sera, her husband, and their two-year-old daughter, refugees from ecological devastation. When Janet’s adult son Conor unexpectedly arrives home sporting a fresh buzzcut and a disturbing tattoo, no one suspects just how extreme the young man has become—no one except Wairere, who can feel the danger pulsating around him. As friendship are formed, prejudices, too, arise, and discord surfaces between the trio of households, threatening to tear them apart. Their fate rests with young Wairere. By accepting who she truly is, the teenager can become the connective tissue that unites her community and helps them forge a better future together.

At 301 pages, The Mires will take you on a journey you will not want to depart from. It flows like water, funny given the core of the book and how effortless the narrative moves. There is a lyricism and musicality to the narrative too, something not quite ordinary prose that may have you tilting your head, like you can hear the notes faintly as you read. It will have you leaning further into the novel and falling deeper into the perspectives, even if you don’t necessarily relate to or empathise with the characters. The imagery of water comes in many forms throughout the novel, and keeping with the themes and symbolism, aids in the flow of pace and the intensity of the read, the tension rising and falling like a tide.

With the various perspectives provided, we also see an array of life experience, intentions, and individuals finding a home in Aotearoa. You may not agree with them all, I certainly don’t, but it makes it feel more like a real, small-town, slice-of-life story brought to the page. It shows an authentic version of a suburb, street, or set of units in Aotearoa New Zealand, and the families you may find in it. There is a truth to it and it makes the beauty of the novel all the more apparent.

If you’re looking for a domestic drama literary fiction, The Mires is for you. If you’re keeping an eye out for stunning New Zealand literature that entices with its lyrical prose, The Mires is for you. If you want a well-written, highly revered story that made it to the shortlist of one of New Zealand’s most prestigious and recognisable book award, then The Mires is for you. I would also highly recommed looking at the longlist for the Ockhams 2025 because there are some amazing works on there that deserve all the praise and recognition.