The Bone People - Keri Hulme

Title: The Bone People Author: Keri Hulme Genre: Cultural Rating: 7/10 # pages: 609 Date read: April, 2006

Summary: Integrating both Maori myth and New Zealand reality, The Bone People became the most successful novel in New Zealand publishing history when it appeared in 1984. Set on the South Island beaches of New Zealand, a harsh environment, the novel chronicles the complicated relationships between three emotional outcasts of mixed European and Maori heritage. Kerewin Holmes is a painter and a loner, convinced that "to care for anything is to invite disaster." Her isolation is disrupted one day when a six-year-old mute boy, Simon, breaks into her house. The sole survivor of a mysterious shipwreck, Simon has been adopted by a widower Maori factory worker, Joe Gillayley, who is both tender and horribly brutal toward the boy. Through shifting points of view, the novel reveals each character’s thoughts and feelings as they struggle with the desire to connect and the fear of attachment.

Review: I read this 7 years ago and really liked it, but couldn't remember much of it, so I wanted to read it again. Honestly, I'm not too sure what I think of it now. It's a fascinating story, but at the same time rather depressing, and the ending is... well, is not an ending. A lot of threads are left dangling and I'm left wondering what happens next. I'm not altogether sure that's a bad thing, but then I'm not sure it's a good thing either... It's a very, very different book from what I usually read, both in writing style and in plot. Still I think I like it. Keri Hulme is from New Zealand - she may even be a Maori - and Maori words are thrown into the conversation throughout the book. I loved it, but one of my friends found it annoying, so I guess it depends on whether or not you get distracted by it (the meaning of words aren't essential to the plot, and often they're guess-able). If you read it or have read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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