Frangipani
by Celestine Vaite
reviewed by Byron Merritt
The best books hit the widest demographic. They speak to all of us, regardless of nationality, sex, or creed. So when I (a man) decided to read a book about a supposed mother-daughter relationship, I knew that I might not be its ultimate target audience. But I’m a pretty liberal reader, willing to check out just about anything so I said: “What the hell. I’ll give Frangipani a shot.”
This is a story told from a completely Tahitian perspective, the main protagonist being a “professional cleaner” named Materena Mahi (it’s no accident that her name closely resembles the word “maternal” as she is the mother figure throughout the book.) Her life is simple, being married to her teenage sweetheart, raising children as best she can, and viewing island life in a purely Tahitian fashion.
The cadence of the book is undeniably its biggest strength. Told in long flowing — and often repetitive — passages, the story opens like a flower in the sunlight. Or, in the case of its pacing, like grass growing. Although interesting since its being told entirely from a culture of which I have little knowledge (I love to learn new things even when I read fiction), the dull, everyday plot just couldn’t keep me engaged. And speaking of the plot ...
I’m not sure what the story was supposed to be about. I know that Materena was the prime focus, but why? What were we supposed to get out of this novel? The first half of the book jumped around far too often, looking at family dynamics, death, and even a transvestite, but where this was supposed to take us I’m still unsure of. The final 75 pages or so of the book focused closely on Materena’s relationship with her daughter, Leilani, and if this had been established earlier the ending would’ve had a far greater impact.
Still, many women might find this book enjoyable since it comes strictly from a female perspective and deals with their relationships with the children/women in their lives. But because of this, I believe it’ll have a limited readership amongst men.
