A Rakiura Connection

Here are two great reads that I have enjoyed recently.   

I was struck by the way the authors have used the landscape of Aotearoa as a backdrop to their stories, with Rakiura (Stewart Island) featuring in both. The similarities don’t end there. The stories are original and cleverly written and both are about characters who are trying to escape from the past.

A Runners Guide to Rakiura by Jessica Howland Kany 

Anyone who has been there will know what a unique and wonderful place Rakiura is and throughout ‘A Runner’s Guide to Rakiura’ we feel a real sense of that uniqueness: the wild and rugged coastline, the clear blue hue of Patterson’s Inlet, a sense of close community and the abundance of wildlife and kai moana.

Bring to that mix the perspective of an outsider, lost treasure, a mystery and a bit of unlikely romance and you really are on to a winner.

Maudie has been sent to Rakiura to, as the title suggests, write a guide for runners. She soon becomes distracted when she hears about a story of unfound treasure and, finding clues in unlikely places, becomes obsessed with finding it.  

This is a thoughtfully put together novel full of intrigue and suspense. I really enjoyed the fact that readers are invited to be fully involved as clues to the whereabouts of the treasure are scattered throughout the story.

The author knows Rakiura well, having made it her home for the past 21 years.

Auē by Becky Manawatu

I cried and laughed my way through ‘Auē’, at times finding the emotional rollercoaster too much whilst simultaneously wanting to keep turning the pages, in desperate hope of reaching a place of peace.

The story centres around two brothers who have been dealt some unfair blows. Their parents have died, and now, when they need her most, their grandmother has become unreachable, both physically and emotionally.  Arama, now 8 years old, is left to live on a farm with his Aunt Kat and her abusive husband, while his teenage brother, lost and broken, guiltily drives off to try to make a life for himself.

Ari quickly befriends a neighbour, Beth, who is his age. Time spent with her provides him with some much-needed respite from his unsafe new home.

As the back-story unfolds a recurring theme of guilt and shame appear and many strands are cleverly woven together until we slowly gain an understanding of how actions from the past have shaped the future.

The author of this well-crafted novel was the recipient of the 2020 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand book awards.

I highly recommend these novels.