This book is a contrast of tranquility and pace. Box Saxton, bankrupted builder, is devastated when he learns his teenage stepson has committed suicide, while Box is working away from home. He decides to arrange to bury his dearly loved boy, Mark, in the churchyard near the farm where he grew up. Liz , his wife and Mark's mother, feels it is only right to inform his birth father, who left when Mark was only two. The natural father, Tipene, is Maori. According to Maori custom the boy should be buried in his ancestral cemetery. In the days before the funeral, Tipene arrives and removes Mark's body from the funeral home and takes him back to his marae.
The early part of the book builds a picture of Box and his family and the love that drives him to pursue and reclaim his son's body. Despite the fact that Box breaks many laws along the way, my total sympathy is with this driven, hardworking and heartbroken man. Although this is a grim subject , there is warmth and beauty in the telling of this tale. The scenario might seem far fetched but in recent years there have been a couple of incidents of this nature in New Zealand, where extended Maori families (whanau) have done exactly as Tipene did. There were no laws in place stating who had rights to the deceased body and immediate families have been ensnared in long drawn out court battles following the death of a loved one.
I think Carl Nixon has bravely tackled a sensitive issue and created a gripping tale of love, loss and a man who carries out incredible deeds through sheer desperation. Highly recommended. ( )