Cowrie

by Cathie Dunsford

Cowrie travels to Hawai’i and as she circles the island in an old pick-up truck we discover the tokens of her heritage. Sensual and sexual language brings the earth to life, and Cowrie too as she tests the limits of her endurance and explores her erotic connection with the earth. Island life erupts through the descriptions and you can taste the tropical fruit, the fish cooked in banana leaves and coconut, and smell the sweet fresh ginger.

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Feminism, Queer, Lesbian

123 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Michelle Boyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cowrie was adopted and raised in Aotearoa (New Zealand) but travels back to Punalu'u, Hawai'i, where she hopes to connect with her grandfather's side of the family. While in Hawai'i, she meets several members of her extended family. Cowrie also begins to learn about Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, fire, lightning, and violence. Pele is a powerful force, but she calls to Cowrie and awakens her senses to indigenous Hawai'i.

While visiting, Cowrie meets Koana and begins to have deeper, sexual feelings towards her. There are many taboos involved with this type of longing and at first Cowrie tries to keep her feelings to herself. Yet it soon becomes clear that Koana, a married woman with two children, may also have some unspoken feelings for Cowrie. The two attempt to carefully navigate the possibilities of this relationship while also not breaking ancestral connections, offending family, etc.

There are also several scenes where Cowrie learns about Laukiamanuikahiki. This Hawai'ian legend is mirrored in the story, which I found quite beautiful (and I was also excited because there is not a lot of easily accessible information about The Legend of Laukiamanuikahiki online).

Gorgeous scenes are depicted, the landscape is alive throughout the novel, and it made for a quick yet deep read. Excited to get my hands on some more work by Dunsford.

Highly recommended for those interested in indigenous literature; women of color literature; Hawai'ian literature; lgbtqa literature; and general readers.

[Allie // Kitasai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this at the store I’m doing a market at.

It’s quite raw and vulgar at times, I enjoyed the descriptions of the setting a lot but not the way Cowrie (the MC) narrated actions and thoughts etc.

3/5

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was more of a stream of conscienceness than a novel but it was a quick good read about Native Pacific Islanders

[Philippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great design - bright cover, groovy borders and black and white drawings scattered through the text. Woman from Aotearoa sets out to explore the Hawai'ian side of her heritage (maybe a bit autobiographical?). Short and sweet, maybe too much so. Plot well structured, but could have had more depth.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting enough but not magnificent.