Manawa Toa / Heart Warrior
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.
2000 | ISBN 9781875559695 | Paperback | 120 x 130 mm | 195 pp
Reviews
‘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 us forget the plight of those who “have signed treaties in good faith and been used as military or economic targets in return”.’
–Meriel Watts
‘Manawa Toa catapults the reader into global awareness with passion and grace.’
–Carolyn Ogburn, Girlfriends
‘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