Customer Reviews

Frangipani (Materena Mahi Tilogy 1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First published in Australia where the author lives with her Australian husband and four children, this enchanting novel is now available in the U.S.

Set in Tahiti, Frangipani is the story of Matarena Mahi and her family, especially her daughter Leilani. We meet Matarena early in her marriage, when she has one child, Tamatoa; and in the course of making up after an argument with her husband, Pito over his paycheck, she becomes pregnant with Leilani. Pito and Matarena reconcile, but Matarena decides to find a job, and becomes a "professional cleaner" to have control over her own money.

This book is reminiscent of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, in that the atmosphere of the place, the voices of the people, the stories of the aunties, all come through crystal clear.

Matarena has high hopes for her daughter Leilani who is so full of questions, and even after Matarena buys an encyclopedia, Leilani still has a thirst for knowledge. Sacrifices are made so she can attend an expensive catholic high school, but before she graduates, she meets a man, one who miraculously fulfills all the major points on Leilani's list of the perfect man.

The relationship between mother and daughter does not always run smoothly; often it bumps along like one of the Tahitian trucks on a mountain road. Matarena's 40th birthday becomes a turning point; she decides to make some major changes in her life. Her example makes Leilani choose a difficult path as well.

is a true joy to read, a jewel of a book, with characters you could just hug; you'll end up loving them so much.

Armchair Interviews says: If you want a delightful read, pick up Frangipani and enjoy!

FRANGIPANI by Celestine Vaite
March 18, 2006


Amazon Rating: 4/5 stars

I can't say enough about FRANGIPANI, the debut novel by Celestine Vaite. It's funny, charming, delightful, and is told by narrator Materena Mahi, a Tahitian woman who loves to dispense advice to all her friends, neighbors, and strangers. The heart of the book is her relationship with her daughter Leilani, who proves to be almost too much for Materena. While she is very proud of her smart daughter, she also cannot understand this new breed of Tahitian woman.

It's the story of Materena's journey from being a Professional Cleaner to a Tahitian celebrity, but the heart and soul of the book is the relationship between mothers and daughters and about strong women everywhere. I cannot wait for the next two books in the series to be published in the United States. FRANGIPANI is highly recommended.

Celestine captures the essence of living life in the old South Pacific. A time when life moved more slowly and values were set according to the matriarcal way of life. Her portrayal of mother and daughter is timeless, but the humor that she injects is more than the words that are printed, they are the life. To truly enjoy this book, you must have grown up somewhere in the South Pacific. For me I still smell the plumeria(frangipani).

Frangipani centers around the character of Materena and her daughter Leilani. Around them circles an array of eccentric extended family members. The novel is filled with an exotic locale, exotic customs and eccentric and lovable characters but at its heart it is about a mother-daughter relationship and the pain and joy it engenders. Materena a 'professional' cleaner and her strong willed and brilliant daughter may be poor Tahitians struggling to get along, but they are universal. You will laugh, you will cry as Matererna dispenses her woman's wisdom to all.

Vaite is a wonderful writer and she has a way with words. I enjoy fictional stories that use vivid descriptions to help the reader feel as if they are really there. The scene where Vaite describes Matt looking for his baby was so detailed and engrossing that I almost forgot I was reading about it and not watching it on a TV screen. There are several other scenes in the books that are very detailed, without using excess words, and I just have to say I enjoyed this aspect of Vaite's writing.

This book is very inspirational because it is about the power of women. Yes, I learned many new things about Tahiti, but this story could be applied to the lives of women anywhere. I enjoyed this book also because it was another good mother/daughter story. I recommend that all mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, and girlfriends read this book.

Materena Mahi is a professional "house cleaner" struggling with mother-daughter conflict. Materena has always forged the middle path between Tahitian custom and modern pragmatism but struggles when her daughter appears to want to leave the Tahitian part of herself behind. Materena is a matriarch of sorts- friends and relatives avidly seek her opinions because of her commonsense wisdom. But when Leilani takes up with the motorcycle-riding Hotu, gets a job, and applies to University, it is Materena who needs emotional support.

Some reviewers have panned this novel as slow and reinforcing of trite island sterotypes we've seen in Gaughin's Tahiti. In fact, this book is slow because Tahiti is slow-or at least slower than a lot of places. You'll have to adjust to island time to enjoy this book. If you want a fast paced Grisham novel, this isn't for you. If you want to slow down, authentically experience another culture, and imagine you can feel the South Pacific on your toes, this is a good book. The islands are a simpler place. It's inhabitants struggle and many of them really do live in fibro board homes and eat the bananas that grow in their yards. I found this book delightful because it stuck to that wonderful reality rather than alluding to a Tahiti that exists on the cover of travel brochures for Americans. A good read.

Frangipani, set in Tahiti, is billed as a novel that portrays a mother-daughter relationship, but it's more than that, much more.

Vaite doesn't waste words with showing us Tahitian landscape, details of the town Faa'a, or descriptions of characters. Once you get drawn into Vaite's humorous style of writing, you'll find yourself conjuring your own images to go with the many characters (relatives) in the book. The characters speak breathlessly, literally, and the narrative voice is filled with morsels of Tahitian life.

For almost the length of the pregnancy, Vaite has Materena speaking to the newly conceived daughter in her womb.
It isn't until chapter six, we're introduced to Leilani through the "rules about giving birth."

Baby Leilani jumps from the labor room at the hospital to age 12 where she is reading encyclopedias and we find out in this 12-year jump, Materena has had another child, a boy, Moana, Leilani's younger brother.

Vaite deluges the reader with humorous blends of all of these into a quaint tale, which gently pokes fun at Tahitian life, the breathless chatter between women, and the crankiness of the people. Yes, the mother-daughter ups and downs, and even some of the family life, can lead the reader to chuckle. But the number of stories within the story could have been individual novels.

This reviewer is tempted to visit Tahiti simply to see if Tahitians are cranky and really do speak without taking a breath as Vaite jokes. If you can overlook the repetitive wording and the crankiness of the people of Tahiti, Frangipani can be a delightful read. Though not a bad read, if Vaite concentrated on Leilani throughout the novel, rather than blend her into the underlying stories, Frangipani would be considered a mother-daughter tale, at least for this reader.

Frangipani came out of left field for me. I wasn't 100% sure what to expect, and yet had picked it up on a whim, thinking that it might be interesting to read a book set in Tahiti. The bonus was that it is also written by a Tahitian writer who was born and raised there. At the risk of sounding cliche, Vaite's novel has that rich tone and style that is characteristic of contemporary ethnic fiction. The nuances in the story show the life of a Tahitian woman, Materena, who approaches her life with a selfish husband (that she loves) and demanding children with a bit of humor and philosophy. Although the story makes a few jumps in time that had me grasping for time frame, I felt centered through Materena.

Much of the story dealt with family relationships, and the complication that such a small island as Tahiti could throw into the mix. Living on such a small island often spells family members leaving to distant places, splitting up the family unit, and causing mothers to cry for their children. You get the sense that although Materena's relationship with the daughter she has is chaotic and often exhausting emotionally, that all she wants for her daughter is happiness. As with most mother, daughter stories, Materena sees her own life through her daughter's eyes, and tries to stop her before she makes any mistakes that she could sense were ahead.

Although the novel felt like a serious discussion of relationships and culture, there were so many funny scenes (some that probably weren't meant to be funny) that I couldn't help but be swept away by the story. Using potted plants to cover holes in the carpet, using terms like "sexy loving" for sex, and using arguments to forward the story had me charmed and invested in their lives. The island culture in the novel also felt very similar to what I've seen, read about, and experienced here in Hawaii, and therefore was sucked into the dialogue and large sense of family pretty quickly. I wasn't keen on the way the book ended, with what felt like simple platitudes about the grandness of women, but I now know there are two more books to follow this first one that have me eager to continue reading about Materena and her family.

I enjoyed reading Breadfruit with its local Tahitian homespun philosophy and myths. The central character is Materena, a young woman in love with Pito, an ambitionless man scared of commitment and more interested in drinking with his copains, in what is very much a woman's novel, a sort of South Pacific chick-lit without the angst. The follow-up Frangipani is written in a similar vein but with a more coherent storyline and structure. Pito more or less drops out of sight and the novel is more concerned with a - rather comical - mother-daughter relationship. It is a very easy read, manageable in one sitting, but behind the jollity there is a sadder truth; that of the uneasy relationship between the Tahitians and the French, and the low expectations and achievements of Polynesians in a country still run along colonial lines, the disquiet muted by huge injections of money and a favourable media. In Frangipani there is the amusing but telling debate among Matarena's family and friends about whether or not her daughter Leilani's boyfriend is a popa'a (white). As in the Caribbean and elsewhere shades of brown count on Tahiti. Read and enjoy, though; it's pretty authentic.

Frangipani, was recommended by a few of my book group friends, and it has sat on my shelf for a few years. I am very happy that I finally decided to read it.

Set on the beautiful island of Tahiti, it is a lovely story which begins with Materena Mahi's husband, Pito, leaving her and their infant son, over an argument. (Materena picked up Pito's paycheck to ensure she had enough money for food and other essentials, since Pinto had a habit of spending the money on his buddies.) In Materena's own words:

"When a woman doesn't collect her man's pay she gets zero francs because her man goes to the bar with his colleagues to celebrate the end of the week and you know how it is, eh?...Well, Materena is fiu of all this!"

Pito does not know she's pregnant before he leaves. Materena keeps herself busy moving furniture, fixing the house the way she wants it, and she even gets a job as a professional cleaner so she doesn't need to worry about money. When her daughter, Leilani, is born the story becomes more about the bonds between mother and daughter.

Leilani is an exceptionally bright little girl with a curious mind which constantly challenges Materena's knowledge and taxes her patience. It is difficult for Materena to impart traditional ways to a young woman who clearly has her own agenda. Materena has a lifetime of Tahitian wisdom to pass on if only Leilani could see its importance. Materena eventually realizes that her daughter is grown and that she has become her own person; a person a mother can be proud of.

The story has French sayings sprinkled throughout, and a lot of interesting cultural beliefs as well.

* "To get rid of unwanted guests without hurting their feelings, broom around their feet."
* "Never visit a woman who's just given birth looking your best."

Although the book dragged a bit in parts, I still really enjoyed the story and especially learning about the culture of the island. There are (2) other books in this series which I hope to read this year as well: Breadfruit and Tiare in Bloom.