Pina

Pina is a powerful novel by Tahitian author Titaua Peu that explores the legacy of colonialism and the breakdown of a family. Nine-year-old Pina is the keeper of her family's secrets, but the weight of this knowledge proves to be too much for her to bear. The novel is translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman and offers a bold and humane anticolonial perspective.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 29 September 2022
Publisher: Restless Books

Winner of the 2017 Eugène Dabit Prize, Titaua Peu's novel "Pina" is a powerful exploration of a family torn apart by secrets and the legacy of colonialism. Set in the destitute Tenaho, Ma and Auguste, along with their five children, struggle to survive in poverty. Nine-year-old Pina, abused and neglected, bears the weight of her family's traumas, serving as the keeper of their secrets. Despite her best efforts to protect her younger sister, Moïra, a tragic accident disrupts the family's fragile balance, setting them on a path of destruction.

The novel delves into the fault lines of the family, descendants of Māohi warriors who once fought against European settlers. As the past unfolds, Pina's brother Pauro falls in love with a Frenchman, her sister Rosa becomes involved in sexual exploitation, her eldest brother August Junior's addictions and temper threaten his future, and Hannah, the oldest daughter who has escaped to France, is beckoned back home, fearing the worst.

Elegantly translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman, "Pina" introduces a bold and profoundly humane anticolonial writer. Spanning a history that reaches back to before colonial rule and into an imagined future of independence and autonomy, the novel offers the promise of redemption. It is a gut-punch of a novel that traces the history of a family, an island, and a people, providing a profound understanding of the complexities of colonialism and its enduring impact.

Weight: 432g
Dimension: 140 x 209 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781632061553