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Tina Makereti’s captivating historical novel The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke has been jointly named as the best New Zealand book of the century.
Based on a true story and published in 2018, the novel tells the story of a young Maori orphan, raised by missionaries, who has a burning desire to travel and explore the world. When an English artist on a tour of New Zealand invites James to return home with him, the boy eagerly accepts and agrees to become a living exhibit at the artist’s London show.
Eye Books published a UK edition in 2019.
The accolade comes after the news website The Conversation noted that the New York Times’ recent Best Books of the 21st Century included no writers from Australia or New Zealand. The outlet set out to rectify the omission by creating its own ANZ lists.
For New Zealand, it asked a panel of local literary experts to each share their favourite NZ book of the century so far. The result was a list of the 20 top books. Among the three books tying as the most picked was Makereti’s novel.
The novel has already been longlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and the International Dublin Literary Award, and it was shortlisted for the New Zealand Heritage Book Awards. It is currently being developed as a feature film by Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi.
The writer Stella Duffy called it ‘a historical love letter to London, a coming-of-age story, a love story’, and urged, ‘Do yourself a favour, read it’. The doyenne of New Zealand letters, Dame Fiona Kidman, said: ‘The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke is a gutsy, searing and totally absorbing read. I loved it all the way.’
Tying with The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke as the most picked books were Jenny Bornholdt’s The Rocky Shore and Catherine Chidgey’s The Axeman’s Carnival.
Eye Books also published a UK edition of Chidgey’s ‘found novel’ The Beat of the Pendulum.
