‘The hills did not belong to us anymore. At the same time, we could not help but remember that land does not belong to people, but that people belong to the land.’

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I read Potiki by Patricia Grace on a recommendation from @ns510reads and what a beautiful, contemplative novel. This book is written with a quiet power, mirroring the reservoirs of strength which run deep in a Māori community on a slice of New Zealand coastline. With their community already decimated by land grabs, the characters in this novel face further threats from land developers who want to use their land for tourism. I loved how the story was told through different perspectives, different characters. It’s not a long book, but I think each character feels so unique and has their own clear voice. It’s all beautifully written but there are some episodes which really stood out to me, such as Toko’s birth and the section with him catching his ‘big fish’.

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There’s a great article/interview with Grace on the Guardian’s website where she discusses the use of the Māori language in the book. In earlier books she had included a glossary, but refused to have one with Potiki and pushed back against italicising words and phrases in Māori because she ‘didn’t want Māori to be treated like a foreign language in its own country’. Publishers - are you listening?!?! We need more of this, rather than catering to English-speaking audiences - we know how to google.

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Highly recommend and please do check out @ns510reads’ review too!