Reviews

Baby No-Eyes by Patricia Grace

nicolaanaru's review

 

Based on the blurb and the author’s note for this book, I thought that Baby No-Eyes was likely to be an expose of the theft of body-parts carried out by Aotearoa hospitals during the ‘90s for research purposes, or eugenics and forced sterilizations of Māori. But, it was not. In Baby No-Eyes, Patricia Grace once again reprises her themes of incest, family secrets, and land rights/disputes, to tell the story of Te Paania, and her children Baby and Tawera.

If you are a fan of non-linear fiction, sprawling narratives, multiple narrators, and not having everything resolved neatly, you may well enjoy this complex narrative. This book has much sadness in it, but there is also a lot of love - particularly between Tawera and his sister Baby.

Or sometimes there is a story that has no words at all, a story that has been lived by a whole generation but that has never been worded. You see it sitting in the old ones, you see it in how they walk and move and breathe, you see it chiselled into their faces, you see it in their eyes. You see it gathering in them sometimes, see the beginning of it on their lips, then you see it swallowed and it’s gone.

 

beeela's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.5

wren176's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

3.0

sarahdeegan's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

octavia_cade's review

4.0

This is excellent, with a really appealing structure - non-linear, and from multiple different narrators, which is something I enjoy. The title character, who is not really the central character of the book at all - rather she is the catalyst that a bunch of inter-related stories play off - is a stillborn infant who, before being returned to her family for burial, is the subject of a medical experiment. Her eyes are cut out, all without the permission or knowledge of her family, who are understandably horrified at what has been done. It's based on a true story, according to the author's note, and it's hard not to suspect that this child is treated as a disposable resource primarily because she is Maori.

But burial is not the end of Baby No-Eyes, as her ghost continues to haunt her younger brother, becoming more and more entwined in his life. Simultaneously, her extended family are involved in their own recoveries of land and language and purpose, and Baby's relationship with her brother Tawera continues in the background of protest, occupation, and the journey to get stolen land returned. If that sounds sprawling and nebulous it is, a little, and towards the end I do tend to think that the book gets a little too unfocused, but overall it's thoughtful and affecting and angry and wonderful. I'm so glad I read it.

elyssaisntreal's review

challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

toniibelle's review

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0