Scorpio Books and Bateman Books warmly welcome you to an author talk starring Monty Soutar to celebrate the release of the second instalment in the Kāwai series, Kāwai: Tree of Nourishment.
All welcome, refreshments provided. Please send in your RSVP and pre-order your book in hardback or paperback format today.
ABOUT THE BOOK
It’s 1818 on the East Coast of Te Ika-a-Māui, New Zealand. Hine-aute, granddaughter of the legendary warrior Kaitanga, is fleeing through the bush, a precious yet gruesome memento contained in her fishing net. What follows is a gripping tale of a people on the cusp of profound change that is destined to reverberate through many generations to come.
The Europeans have arrived, and they’ve brought guns and foreign diseases, ushering in a whole new world of terror and trouble. They’ve also brought a new religion, which will cause Māori to question everything they had believed to be true. Hine and her sons Ipumare and Uha are caught in the crossfire of change, creating fractures in their close familial bonds and undermining everything they hold dear.
From raids by musket-wielding war parties to heightened internecine warfare; from the influx of whalers, traders and Christian missionaries to the signing of The Treaty of Waitangi, Kāwai: Tree of Nourishment strikes hard and deep into the heart of the initial impact of colonisation on Māori, and is guaranteed to leave readers stunned.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Monty Soutar (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Kahungunu) has worked as a Senior Historian for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Director of the Tairāwhiti Museum in Gisborne and as the World War One Historian in Residence at Auckland War Memorial Museum. In 2015 he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and historical research. He continues to serve on the Waitangi Tribunal.
Dr. Soutar is the author of Whitiki Whiti Whiti E! Māori in the First World War and Nga Tama Toa – The Price of Citizenship: C Company 28 (Māori) Battalion 1939-1945. In 2021 he was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer’s Fellowship to write the Kāwai series. Monty lives in Gisborne with his wife and youngest daughter.