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ISBN: 9780099286295 - They Who Do Not Grieve
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They Who Do Not Grieve

Sia Figiel

ISBN: 9780099286295
Format: Paperback
Publisher:Vintage
Edition: New edition


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This novel weaves together the voices of many women. At the centre of the story is the Samoan woman's tattoo, brought over from Fiji by Siamese twins. The huge emotional and physical challenge needed to go through the tattoo ceremony is pitched against the allure and shame of illicit love.

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Weaving together the stories of three generations of Samoan women, contrasting the traditional and the modern, They Who Do Not Grieve is a stunning new novel from one of the Pacific's most exciting writers. Malu, brought up by her grandmother, has only a ghostly memory of her dead mother. And 'malu' is also the name of the Samoan woman's traditional tattoo, and the shame and grief not completing the tattoo ceremony can haunt a life forever. Young Malu, watching the Americans living on the island, sees the modern way, the Nineties discontent overtaking the Sixties notions of an island paradise, whilst hearing tales from the older Samoan women of the old life. Although destined to repeat the patterns of the past, Malu can turn them into vivid stories for the future
 
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