Sia Figiel: They Who Do Not Grieve (Paperback)

by Sia Figiel (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Sia Figiel's powerful, poetic skills weave together the voices of three generations of women from two Samoan families. Their dream worlds and realities intermingle, just as the histories of each generation run through the next. At the center of the novel is the Samoan woman's tattoo, the "malu", believed to be brought from Fiji by Siamese twins. The ghosts of the twins watch over the women whose lives are stained by an unfinished tattoo. The shame and grief of not completing the tattoo ceremony go hand in hand with the shame and grief of illicit love and broken promises.

About the Author
Born in Apia in 1967, Sia Figiel is the first contemporary woman novelist from Samoa. Her first book, "Where We Once Belonged", won the 1997 Commonwealth Writer's Best First Book Prize for Southeast Asia-South Pacific region, and has been translated into several languages. She is also the author of "The Girl in the Moon Circle" and a collection of prose poetry,"To a Young Artist in Contemplation". Also known as a performance poet, Sia is a frequent guest at literary festivals, women's prisons, universities, and high schools. She lives and works in Samoa.

Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Kaya/Muae (November 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885030339
• ISBN-13: 978-1885030337
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #924,709 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkably well written, May 29, 2009

By	Tiarra A. Maznick "Tiarra Solo" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I fell in love with this book. Figiel touches on so many topics and weaves them together incredibly. First and foremost she describes the shame associated with unfinished tattoos in more than words, but in lived situations, and in a way that is much more comprehensable than simply saying "shame." She touches on how the Pacific has been used as this "exotic ideal" and how we too face problems and struggles. Not only Pacific islands, but the women themselves are this exotic ideal. She portrays the beauty of Samoan women, and sometimes the curses associated with being beautiful. Certain chapters take place in New Zealand, and she also describes some of the struggles of being a foreigner, a Samoan in a foriegn country. I especially liked how she described the "community" dynamic, in which Samoans, try to live simultaneously for themselves, but yet have a large more communal role to play in society. She dives into sexuality and the role of Samoan women as well, with great depth. The way she weaves these aspects together is beautiful. I highly recommend this book.

~T. Solo

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Writer, Excellent Observer of Culture & Place, May 9, 2006

By	J. C. Abbott "Fiame" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Sia Figel has once again done an outstanding job capturing the specifics of life in the transitioning cultures of Samoa in a way that is both artistic and illustrative. In doing so she has captured elements of the unversal that offer a message beyond the exotic South Pacific location into the challenges faced by families in modern life.

Excellently written, these stories are gems not only of Polynesian or ethnographic writing, but of Literature with a capial "L".



Fiame