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1984 novel by Keri Hulme

The Bone People, styled by the writer and in some editions as the bone people, is a 1984 novel by New Zealand writer Keri Hulme. Set on the coast of the South Island of New Zealand, the novel focuses on three characters, all of whom are isolated in different ways: a reclusive artist, a mute child, and the child's foster father. Over the course of the novel the trio develop a tentative relationship, are driven apart by violence, and reunite. Māori and Pākehā (New Zealand European) culture, myths and language are blended through the novel. The novel has polarised critics and readers, with some praising the novel for its power and originality, while others have criticised Hulme's writing style and portrayals of violence. Hulme spent many years working on the novel, but was unable to find a mainstream publisher who was willing to accept the book without significant editing; it was eventually published by the small all women collective of Spiral. After initial commercial success in New Zealand, the book was published overseas and became the first New Zealand novel and first debut novel to win the Booker Prize in 1985, although not without controversy; two of the five judges opposed the book's choice for its portrayals of child abuse and violence. Nevertheless, the novel has remained popular into the 21st century, continuing to sell well in New Zealand and overseas, and is widely recognised as a New Zealand literary classic.

Kerewin lives in a tower overlooking the sea on the coast of the South Island. She is isolated from her family and interacts little with the local community, but is able to live independently after winning a lottery and investing well. On a stormy afternoon a young child, Simon, appears at the tower. He is mute and communicates with Kerewin through hand signals and notes. He is picked up the next morning by a family friend; later that evening Simon's foster father, Joe, visits Kerewin to thank her for looking after Simon. After a freak storm years earlier, Simon was found washed up on the beach with very few clues as to his identity. Despite Simon's mysterious background, Joe and his wife Hana took the boy in. Later, Joe's infant son and Hana both died, forcing Joe to bring the troubled and troublesome Simon up on his own. Kerewin finds herself developing a tentative relationship with the boy and his father. Gradually it becomes clear that Simon is a deeply traumatised child, whose strange behaviours Joe is unable to cope with. Kerewin discovers that, in spite of the real familial love between them, Joe is physically abusing Simon. Horrified, she initially says nothing to Joe, but suggests they travel to her family's bach (holiday home) by the beach for a break. Early on in their stay she confronts Joe and asks him to go easier on Simon. Joe and Kerewin argue, and after Simon spits at Joe, she intervenes to stop Joe from beating him, using her aikido skills. Following the incident, Joe promises not to beat Simon without her permission. They spend the rest of their time at the beach fishing, talking and drinking. After returning home from the holiday, Simon sees the aftermath of a violent death and seeks Kerewin out for support, but she is angry with him for stealing one of her prized possessions. Simon reacts by punching her; she instinctively hits him in the chest and in response he kicks in the side of her guitar, a gift from her estranged mother. Kerewin tells him to get out. Simon goes to the town and breaks a series of shop windows, and when he is returned home by the police Joe calls Kerewin, who gives Joe permission to beat the child (but tells him not to "overdo it"). Joe beats Simon severely, believing he has driven Kerewin away. Simon, who has concealed a shard of glass from a shop window, stabs his father. Both are hospitalised, with Simon falling into a coma. Joe is released quickly but sent to prison for three months for child abuse, and in the meantime Kerewin leaves town and demolishes her tower. Simon eventually recovers, albeit with some loss of hearing and brain damage, and is sent to live in foster care against his wishes. He is unhappy and continually runs away, trying to get back to Joe and Kerewin. After Joe's release from prison, he travels aimlessly. He jumps off a cliff and nearly kills himself, but is rescued by an dying kaumātua (respected elder) who says he has been waiting for Joe. He asks Joe to take over guardianship of a sacred waka (canoe), containing the spirit of a god, which Joe accepts. In the meantime, Kerewin becomes seriously ill with stomach pains. Although she visits a doctor who says he is concerned it may be stomach cancer, she refuses to allow him to investigate further and insists he write her a prescription for sleeping pills. After several weeks in a mountain cabin, on the point of death, she is visited by a spirit of some kind and cured. Kerewin returns to her community and takes custody of Simon. Joe also returns, bringing with him the sacred spirit. Without Kerewin's knowledge or permission, he contacts Kerewin's family, resulting in a joyous reconciliation. The final scene of the novel depicts the reunion of Kerewin, Simon and Joe, celebrating with family and friends back at the beach where Kerewin has rebuilt the old marae (communal meeting house) and rebuilt her home, not as a tower but in the shape of a shell with many spirals.

The novel focuses on three main characters, all of whom are isolated in different ways. In the short prologue at the start of the novel, the then unnamed characters are described as "nothing more than people by themselves", but together "the hearts and muscles and mind of something perilous and new, the instruments of change". Kerewin Holmes – Kerewin lives in an isolated tower by the sea, estranged from her family and community. She is part Māori, part Pākehā, and asexual. She is skilled, knowledgeable and creative, but although seeing herself as a painter finds herself unable to paint. At the outset of the novel she spends her days fishing and drinking. She is often preparing food or eating, which links the novel to traditional Māori storytelling themes of food and its preparation. She has been described as a "clear stand in for the author". Each character represents aspects of New Zealand's racial culture. Through their love of Simon and acceptance of Māori myth into their lives, Joe and Kerewin are able to transform themselves. The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature describes the three as becoming "a new multicultural group, founded on Māori spirituality and traditional ritual, who offer transformative hope to a country stunted by the violence of its divided colonial legacy". It represents the sense of community, cultural integration and open endedness that gives the characters hope at the end of the novel.

The novel is divided into four sections of three parts each, loosely covering the four seasons of a year. Much of the narration is from the perspective of Kerewin, and predominantly in the third person, but some sections are told from the perspective of Joe or Simon, including those sections which relate to Joe's violent beating of Simon. The prose is often in a stream of consciousness or poetic style denoting characters' inner thoughts. It also incorporates use of the Māori language, usually untranslated in the text, but with a glossary at the back of the book. The novel frequently features the dreams of the three characters, and in the final section the narrative shifts from realism to mysticism. The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature observes that the novel requires active concentration from the reader, given the mixture of poetry and prose, New Zealand slang and Māori phrases, realistic and supernatural elements, and tonal shifts from ordinary and banal to lyrical and sacred. The novel's two other key characters, Kerewin Holmes and Joe Gillayley, were developed at a later stage. Hulme had almost given up on publication when she met Marian Evans, a founder of the Women's Gallery and a member of the women's publishing collective Spiral. She later recorded that she had reached the point of deciding to embalm the manuscript in resin and use it as a doorstop. In 1981, Hulme sent Evans a copy of the manuscript, which Evans passed onto Māori leaders Miriama Evans (no relation to Marian) and Irihapeti Ramsden. Both Miriama and Ramsden saw the book as a Māori novel, with Ramsden comparing Hulme's writing to her childhood experiences of listening to Māori elders share oral traditions and stories. It was typeset by the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association, and proofread by members of Spiral (Marian later acknowledged that the proofreading "was uneven, dependent on the skills of various helpers"). In 2010 it was one of six novels comprising Penguin Books' Ink series, a subset of 75 titles re released in celebration of the publishing house's 75th anniversary, each with jacket art "specially designed by some of the world's best artists working in the world of tattoos and illustration". The cover features art by New Zealand tattoo artist Pepa Heller.

The novel polarised readers and reviewers, receiving both critical acclaim and strong criticism. New Zealand academic and writer C. K. Stead suggested in a 1985 article that Hulme should not be identified as a Māori writer, on the basis that she was only one eighth Māori. He praised the novel however for its "imaginative strength" and said it was at its core "a work of great simplicity and power"; years later he described the work as "New Zealand's finest novel". His views on Hulme's identity were controversial, with other critics at the time calling them racist and reactionary. Hulme said in response to Stead's comments on her racial identity that he was "wrong, on all counts". In 1991 Hulme and other authors withdrew stories from an anthology Stead was engaged to edit, with Hulme citing his "extensive history of insult and attack that surrounds [his] relations with Maori and Polynesian writers". Claudia Tate for The New York Times called the novel "provocative", and said it "summons power with words, as in a conjurer's spell".

In 1984, the novel won the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction. The following year it won the Pegasus Prize for Literature, which that year had been earmarked for Māori fiction, The judges were split on The Bone People as winner: Lumley and Bawden opposed it, with Lumley arguing that the book's subject matter of child abuse was "indefensible", "no matter how lyrically written". Irihapeti Ramsden, Marian Evans and Miriama Evans of Spiral attended the ceremony itself on her behalf. They recited a karanga (Māori call) as they accepted the award, which led to Philip Purser of The Sunday Telegraph describing them as "a posse of keening harpies". David Lange, prime minister at the time, sent her a congratulatory telegram, ending with: No reira, e te puawai o Aotearoa, e mihi aroha ki a koe ("And so, to you, a flower of Aotearoa, this loving greeting"). In 2018, it came third in two separate polls by The Spinoff of the favourite New Zealand books of readers and literary experts respectively. It is the favourite novel of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern. In 2022, it was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Hulme died in December 2021. Her New York Times obituary reported that the book had at that time sold over 1.2 million copies. In July 2022, her family announced that the original novel manuscript would be sold at auction, with the proceeds to be used to support Māori authors, in accordance with Hulme's final wishes. The estimated sale price was 35,000 to $50,000; it sold for $55,000.