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rvitenzon 's review for:
The Bone People
by Keri Hulme
I absolutely loved this book for the first 150 pages or so... then extremely graphic, violent chronic child abuse (to the point of long-term hospitalization of the six year old main character, to the point that the abuser is almost charged with murder) happened, with one main character (Joe) being the abuser and the other main character (Kerewin) being complicit in the abuse (she tells Joe to do his worst to the child at one point even though she knows Joe beats his child to the point of disfigurement). Hulme goes on a lot about how Joe loves his child despite the beatings and that the child is ultimately better off with him. The nurses/doctors/social workers/teachers are portrayed as well-meaning but wrong in wanting to remove the child from this environment. The only "good" doctor is the one that tells the child to misbehave and run away from his foster homes because he'll be better off with his abusers because they love him. We're supposed to sympathize with the two other main characters because they have dark pasts and trauma. Trauma is not an excuse for traumatizing others. confused why other reviewers say "this book is great because it shows the issue isn't black and white, I empathize with Joe" etc etc - I had no sympathy at all for these people and only read to the end because I wanted to know what would happen to the child -there's a "happy" ending and the child ends up with his abusers.