Taukiri can’t look his eight-year-old brother in the eye. He cannot hide his guilt. ‘You’ll love it, there are cows’, he tells Arama about where they will be living now that their parents have died. Taukiri says he will be back as soon as he can, but Arama knows his brother is escaping as he drives away.

Arama now lives with his Uncle Stu and Aunty Kat on their farm. Uncle Stu makes life unbearable for Arama, regularly attacking Aunt Kat physically and mentally. Arama struggles to keep out of his way. Beth, who lives a couple of houses away is Arama’s saviour. The two eight-year-olds declare themselves brother and sister. The bond that grows between these two characters is a highlight of the book. Taukiri struggles to survive on his own with no money or job. Inevitably he is drawn to the lawless world of the gangs.

This is a dark novel, wrapped in a cloud of violence: domestic and gang violence, cultures of abuse that pass down generations. It’s in an earlier generational story where we learn about Jade. She lived within the dark side of the Maori gang culture. There is also a ghost, or a spirit, who hovers through the chapters: a spirit who is desperately trying to help.

As chapters alternate between characters, Manawatu shortens them and changes perspective more rapidly, tension increases towards the climax, mirroring an intensifying occurrence of domestic violence. Some readers may be put off by the violence, but it emphasises the brutality these characters live with and ultimately the message that Manawatu is conveying.

It is easy to see how this novel won such a swathe of awards when it was released in New Zealand. A stellar debut.

Reviewed by Neale Lucas