num_pages: 456
description: The matriarch is a woman of intelligence, wit, beauty and ruthlessness, and has become a mythical figure through her fight to repossess the land and sustain her people against the ravages wrought by the Pakeha. Priestess of the Ringatu faith, she has been virtually a law unto herself. In his search for the truth behind the legends surrounding the matriarch, his grandmother, Tama Mahana delves deeper and deeper into Maori history and lore to understand the mysterious sources of her power and ambition. Witi Ihimaera's prose is at turns lyrical and spare, sensuous and savage. Weaving fact with fiction, this remarkable odyssey into New Zealand history is a novel of stunning imaginative power.
language: English
title: The Matriarch
titlecomplete: The Matriarch (The Mahana Family, #1)
genres: Fiction, Classics, Adult Fiction
ratings_count: 229
series: The Mahana Family
awards: awardedAt: 536486400000
name: Commonwealth Writers' Prize
category: Best Book in South East Asia and Pacific, awardedAt: 504950400000
name: Ockham New Zealand Book Awards
category: (Goodman Fielder Wattie)
publisher: Picador