Spinifex Press - Manawa Toa/Heart Warrior

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Manawa Toa/Heart Warrior

Cathie Dunsford

translated into Turkish and German

Dive into a luscious feast of language and imagery, laced with Maori proverbs. This is the novel as haka.

Cowrie boards a ship bound for Moruroa Atoll during the French nuclear tests. She is in for a rough ride. As international attention is focused on the Pacific and the environment, the stakes rise. She is joined by Sahara, a young peace activist from England and Marie-Louise, a French nuclear physicist. But can they be trusted? Can anyone be trusted?

With sensuous writing and a deep knowledge of the traditions, the reader can feel the rock of the sea, taste the food, and fear the attacks on the peace flotilla as it approaches Moruroa Atoll. Dive into a luscious feast of language and imagery.

‘The novel is suffused with Maori culture, women’s culture and a passion for the beauty of Aotearoa, the land and sea.’ —Sue Pierce, Lesbian Review of Books, USA

‘Manawa Toa catapults the reader into global awareness with passion and grace.’ —Carolyn Ogburn, Girlfriends

‘Dunsford takes us on flights of imagination - gazing at the star filled pacific sky from a hammock on the deck of Manawa Toa as the boat slowly ploughs her way through the vast ocean. But in her blending of the natural and spirit worlds, she never lets is forget the plight of those who “have signed treaties in good faith and ben used a military or economic targets in return”.’ —Meriel Watts

Cathie Dunsford is a writer, teacher and publishing consultant. She has written two previous novels, Cowrie and The Journey Home (translated into German by Rogner & Bernhard in a joint volume under the title Kia Kaha Cowrie). She is also the editor of numerous anthologies including Subversive Acts (Penguin), Me and Marilyn Monroe (Daphne Brasell) and Car Maintenance, Explosives and Love (Spinifex).

Map of Cowrie's Pacific. (This is a large file, and may take some time to download)

ISBN 1875559698 fiction
160pp 198 x 128 mm pb
Territories:World
All rights:Spinifex
Germany: Rogner and Bernhard

women@spinifexpress.com.au