May 14, 2024
Tina Makereti’s latest novel, The Mires, is a masterclass in social realism with just a touch of magic. Opening from the perspective of the swampland of the Kāpiti Coast in Aotearoa New Zealand, The Mires carries a strong sense of deep time and environmental change. As the novel follows the residents of a small trio of flats in a quiet town, we see how their lives speak to both the past and the future of the whenua (land) they live on. Makereti’s characters are vivid and complex, from single mum Keri and her quiet but stubborn daughter Wairere to newly arrived refugees Sera and Adam with their young child and the stuck-in-her-ways but well-intentioned Mrs B. As a very real threat grows in their community, The Mires grips the reader’s attention and holds it right to the end. Makereti deftly captures the struggles and joys of connecting with other people and finding a community, both in spite of and because of our differences. She explores what can happen when people feel disconnected from and victimised by the world, and what they will do to reclaim what they feel is theirs. The Mires is a powerful narrative threaded with hope that reflects the numerous dangers of our time, from climate emergencies to the rise of alt-right ideologies. In many ways, it speaks back to Keri Hulme’s Booker Prize–winning The Bone People.