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liralen's review against another edition
4.0
The 'about the author' section of New Guinea Moon tells us that Constable grew up in New Guinea, where her father was a charter pilot, and it's safe to say that that personal experience is a boon for the book. Julie, the protagonist at hand, has not grown up in New Guinea, but when she visits her estranged father, she gets more of an education than she'd expected: about her father and his life, yes, but also about politics and race and colonialism. It's for that reason that I'm giving this four stars: I love seeing the complexity of the characters as local and 'European' practices collide. There aren't a lot of one-dimensional characters here; a character can be supportive and thoughtful in some ways and deeply racist in others. More interesting and more realistic than a more black-and-white view, and also just more interesting and complex for addressing New Guinea's history of colonisation (and the longer-lasting impact) in depth at all.
sharon_geitz's review against another edition
4.0
Nice coming of age story set in PNG at the time of independence,74/75. Explores some of the issues and complexities of the changing nature of PNG society.
melbsreads's review against another edition
4.0
My first read for the Oceania installment of the #AroundTheWorldAThon.
Set in the 1970s, this is the story of a teenage girl basically meeting her father for the first time when she goes to spend the summer with him in Papua New Guinea shortly before independence.
I've never read anything set in PNG before, and this was...surprisingly great. I expected it to be pretty fluffy based on the cover, and on the surface it was. It's a teenage girl meeting her father and discovering her place in the world and ending up in a not-particularly-romantic romantic relationship.
BUT.
There's so much commentary on the nature of expat society, on race relations between white expats and the local community, on the way biracial children are treated by the expat population, on the way that local women basically raise white children while working as housekeepers and are referred to as "my second mother" but are then fired without a second thought when the children no longer need care. And Julie - having grown up under the influence of her left wing feminist mother - is the one who can see what the others can't.
Honestly, there were some elements that felt a little bit rushed and that could have been fleshed out far more than they were. But on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and Constable's love for Papua New Guinea shines through.
Set in the 1970s, this is the story of a teenage girl basically meeting her father for the first time when she goes to spend the summer with him in Papua New Guinea shortly before independence.
I've never read anything set in PNG before, and this was...surprisingly great. I expected it to be pretty fluffy based on the cover, and on the surface it was. It's a teenage girl meeting her father and discovering her place in the world and ending up in a not-particularly-romantic romantic relationship.
BUT.
There's so much commentary on the nature of expat society, on race relations between white expats and the local community, on the way biracial children are treated by the expat population, on the way that local women basically raise white children while working as housekeepers and are referred to as "my second mother" but are then fired without a second thought when the children no longer need care. And Julie - having grown up under the influence of her left wing feminist mother - is the one who can see what the others can't.
Honestly, there were some elements that felt a little bit rushed and that could have been fleshed out far more than they were. But on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and Constable's love for Papua New Guinea shines through.
sharon4d046's review
4.0
Nice coming of age story set in PNG at the time of independence,74/75. Explores some of the issues and complexities of the changing nature of PNG society.
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