Checkerboard Hill
CATEGORY: General fiction
ISBN : 9781775508083
PUBLISHER : Huia (Nz) Ltd
IMPRINT : Huia (Nz) Ltd
PUBLICATION DATE : October 2023
PAGE EXTENT: 276
FORMAT: Soft cover
COVER ILLUSTRATION: Rehua Wilson
Checkerboard Hill is a story of belonging, dislocation, misunderstandings, identity and fractured relationships.
When a family member dies in Australia, Ria flies from New Zealand and returns to the family and home in Australia she suddenly left decades before as a teenager. Waiting for her return are her husband and son in New Zealand. Neither family has met the other, and Ria has always kept her Maori, Australian, New Zealand identities and lives separate. But the family tensions, unfinished arguments, connections to places and meeting of former friends, lead Ria to revisit her memories and reflect on the social and cultural tensions and racism she experienced, and the decisions she made. The novel confronts the complexities of families, secrets and trauma and the way these play out across generations. It also explores the ways in which Maori cultural traditions and tikanga are transmuted and transformed across the Tasman, across time and space.
Reviews
Lampard, T. (2024, February 25). An impressive debut that gets under the skin: a review of Checkerboard Hill by Jade Kake. The Spinoff. Available at https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/25-02-2024/an-impressive-debut-that-gets-under-the-skin-a-review-of-checkerboard-hill-by-jade-kake
Tricklebank, J. (2024, February 15). Book of the Week: Māori on the Gold Coast. ReadingRoom. Available at https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/02/15/book-of-the-week-maori-on-the-gold-coast/
Lyell, R. (2024, February). Checkerboard Hill by Jade Kake [Review]. NZ Booklovers. Available at https://www.nzbooklovers.co.nz/post/checkerboard-hill-by-jade-kake
Rapatahana, V. (2023, November). Review — Checkerboard Hill. Kete Books. Available at https://www.ketebooks.co.nz/all-book-reviews/checkerboard-hill
