Bone People (Pan Macmillan)

Winner of the Booker Prize in 1985, "The Bone People" is the story of Kerewin, a despairing part-Maori artist who is convinced that her solitary life is the only way to face the world. Her cocoon is rudely blown away by the sudden arrival during a rainstorm of Simon, a mute six-year-old whose past seems to hold some terrible trauma. In his wake comes his foster-father Joe, a Maori factory worker with a nasty temper. The narrative unravels to reveal the truths that lie behind these three characters, and in so doing displays itself as a huge, ambitious work that tackles the clash between Maori and European characters in beautiful prose of a heartrending poignancy. 'In this novel, New Zealand's people, its heritage and landscape are conjured up with uncanny poetry and perceptiveness.' - "Sunday Times."