Sado

Description

Sado n. shadow 2. reflection 3. humiliation, dishonour -A New Bislama Dictionary Friday 13 March, 2015: Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam makes landfall with devastating consequences. Vanuatu is bruised but not broken. Reeling from the loss of livelihood and struggling to meet basic human needs, people start to reassemble their lives. Cathryn is an NGO worker from New Zealand who has a ruined home, a teenage son and a Ni-Vanuatu boyfriend she hasn't heard from since the phone lines went dead. Faia is a community organiser, a radio journalist and a survivor who fights for women to be heard. Together and apart they navigate their places in the complex cultural and social systems of Vanuatu, where tradition clashes with modern urban life. Sado is a novel about relationships - between friends and family, across cultures and communities, and also with the past. When a terrible accident occurs, all of these relationships are called into question.

Mikaela Nyman was born on the autonomous Aland islands in Finland and spent four years in Vanuatu. She writes fiction, non-fiction and poetry in Swedish and English. Her PhD in creative writing entailed collaboration with Ni-Vanuatu writers; one of her collaborative poems was published in Sport 47. Her work has featured in Turbine | Kapohau, Sport, Blackmail Press, Sweet Mammalian, Minarets and Strong Words 2019: The Best of the Landfall Essay Competition. In 2019 her first poetry collection, Nar vandkrets laggs mot vandkrets (Ellips), was published in Finland. She currently lives in New Plymouth.

"This evocative novel draws you into its richly described world with great skill and sensitivity. The writing is exquisite and nuanced, and the questions it so subtly raises will linger in your mind. Highly recommended." - Mandy Hager