Frangipani

by Celestine Hitiura Vaite (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.25

  'Check the woman who raised the man you want as your husband. Men like to say to their sons, How's the mama? A big pork chop? That's your girlfriend in twenty years . Well girl, check your boyfriend's mama, see how she raised her son.' Materena does the best she can to take care of her family but sometimes staying true to what you believe is difficult - and bringing up a daughter in a world where everything is changing, very hard indeed. Materena's loving efforts at guiding her daughter Leilani through her childhood and into adulthood means she struggles herself with her own life, her family and who she wants to be. Funny, touching and heart-warming, Materena's love for Leilani, her two sons and her husband Pito forms the backdrop to her own story too. Materena's rules for life include: never cut costs with your curtains; how to get rid of unwanted guests; secrets for the grave; checking out the woman who raised your man (see above); treating the relatives right: 'even if your heart is being crucified you still have to wave to relatives'; and, most importantly, 'Don't start thinking you know more than I do'. Frangipani is the warm, tender, funny story of Materena's life in Tahiti and her relationship with her daughter, Leilani. But more importantly, it's a wonderfully life-affirming, utterly page-turning story about the power of family love and its abiding truth.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.25

  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 to 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...

• New

  Paperback
  2006

  $21.77

  In Tahiti, it's a well-known fact that women are wisest, mothers know best, and Materena Mahi knows best of all--or so everyone except for her own daughter thinks. Soon enough, mother and daughter are engaged in a tug-of-war that tests the bonds of their love.