Tu

Three brothers, one war and multiple secrets. Tu is proud of his name: it belongs to the Maori god of war. But for the returned soldier there's a shadow over his war experience with the Maori Battalion in Italy. Three young men from the one family went to war, but only one returned - Tu is the sole survivor. Now, when his young niece and nephew come looking for answers, Tu is brought face to face with the past. What really happened to the three brothers as the Maori Battalion fought in the hills and valleys of Italy is contained in the pages of his war journal, and this he now decides to give to his niece and nephew. The time for revelations has come. Patricia Grace has drawn on the war experiences of her father and other relatives and ventured into new territory. The result is a prize-winning novel of great authenticity and drama from one of our finest storytellers.

Patricia Grace (Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa) is one of New Zealand's most celebrated writers. She has published over 35 titles, including novels, short-story collections, works of non-fiction and books for children, a number of which have been translated into te reo Maori. Among numerous awards, she won the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards in 1986 for the much-loved Potiki, which also won the New Zealand Fiction Award in 1987. She was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2001 with Dogside Story, which won the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Fiction Prize. Tu won the 2005 Montana New Zealand Book Awards Fiction Prize and the Deutz Medal for Fiction and Poetry. She was also awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, Oklahoma, in 2008. Her children's story The Kuia and the Spider won the Children's Picture Book of the Year and she has also won the New Zealand Book Awards For Children and Young Adults Te Kura Pounamu Award. Patricia was born in Wellington and lives in Plimmerton on ancestral land, in close proximity to her home marae at Hongoeka Bay. Her book Cousins was made into an internationally-acclaimed film in 2021, directed by daughter in law Briar Grace-Smith and Ainsley Gardiner.