Historical fiction books from New Zealand
Recommended historical fiction books (7)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into historical fiction here are some historical fiction books from New Zealand for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff EN
Country: Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
Life as a Maori in present day New Zealand, chronicling their poverty, their alcoholism and their despair. The narrator is a Maori woman who has nothing but contempt for Maori men--warriors who degenerated into lazy bums.
2.
Sisters Under the Rising Sun : A Novel by Heather Morris EN
Country: Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
The phenomenal new novel, based on a true story, from the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Cilka's Journey and Three Sisters. 1942. Singapore is falling to the Japanese Army. English musician Norah Chambers places her eight-year-old daughter Sally on a ship leaving Singapore, desperate to keep her safe. As the island burns, Australian nurse Nesta James joins the terrified cargo of people, including the heartbroken Norah, crammed aboard the HMS Vyner Brooke. After only two days at sea, the ship is bombarded and sunk. Nesta and Norah reach the beaches of Indone... continue
3.
Sleeps Standing by Witi Ihimaera, Hēmi Kelly EN
Country: Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
Both fiction and fact, this fascinating book is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the Battle of Orakau. During three days in 1864, 300 Maori men, women and children fought an Imperial army and captured the imagination of the world. The battle marked the end of the Land Wars in the Waikato and resulted in vast tracts of land being confiscated for European settlement. Instead of following the usual standpoint of the victors, this book takes a Maori perspective. It is centred around Witi Ihimaera's moving novella, Sleeps Standing, which views the battle through the eyes of a 16-year-old boy named Mo... continue
4.
The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke by Tina Makereti EN
Country: Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
"The hour is late. The candle is low. Tomorrow I will see whether it is my friends or a ship homewards I meet. But I must finish my story for you first. My future, my descendant, my mokopuna. Listen. So begins the tale of James Poneke: orphaned son of a chief; ardent student of English; wide-eyed survivor. All the worlds a stage, especially when youre a living exhibit. But anything can happen to a young New Zealander on the savage streets of Victorian London. When James meets the man with laughing dark eyes and the woman who dresses as a man, he begins to discover who people really are beneath... continue
5.
The Parihaka Woman by Witi Ihimaera EN
Country: Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
A wonderfully surprising, inventive and deeply moving riff on fact and fiction, history and imagination from one of New Zealand's finest and most memorable storytellers. There has never been a New Zealand novel quite like The Parihaka Woman. Richly imaginative and original, weaving together fact and fiction, it sets the remarkable story of Erenora against the historical background of the turbulent and compelling events that occurred in Parihaka during the 1870s and 1880s. Parihaka is the place Erenora calls home, a peaceful Taranaki settlement overcome by war and land confiscation. As her worl... continue
6.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz : A Novel by Heather Morris EN
Country: Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
The #1 International Bestseller & New York Times Bestseller This beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov—an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity. “The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary document, a story about the extremes of human behavior existing side by side: calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be drawn in, confronted and moved. I would recommend it unreservedly ... continue
7.
The Uncle's Story : A Novel by Witi Ihimaera EN
Country: Oceania / New Zealand
New Zealand
Description:
Set in the war-torn jungles of Vietnam and in presentday New Zealand and North America, Witi Ihimaera's new novel confronts Maori attitudes toward sexuality and masculinity and contains some of the author's most passionate writing to date.