Frangipani

Description:
This work talks about love, life, families...Tahitian style! Materena Mahi, champion professional cleaner and best listener in all of Tahiti, is usually the one solving the problems. But right now she's that close from throwing her daughter Leilani into the street. 'It doesn't matter what I do,' she confides to Mama Teta, to Cousin Rita, to Mama Loana and to the Virgin Mary Understanding Woman, 'it's always the wrong thing. I'm going taravana!' And if that wasn't enough there's a boy on the horizon. Or so the relatives are saying. When everything around her is changing, and the traditional Tahitian rules no longer seem to be enough, Materena realises it's going to take more than the Welcome into Womanhood talk to deal with the next generation of Mahi women...

Author Biography:
Celestine Hitiura Vaite was born in Tahiti. The daughter of a Tahitian mother and a French father who went back to his country after military service, she grew up in her big extended family in Faa'a-Tahiti, where storytelling was part of the every day life and women overcame obstacles with gusto and humour. Frangipani was also shortlisted for the 2005 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Celestine now lives with her family on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.