The Forgotten Coast [Hardcover]

You approach family stories with caution and care, especially when a thing long forgotten is uncovered in the telling.

In this deft memoir, Richard Shaw unpacks a generations-old family story he was never told: that his ancestors once farmed land in Taranaki which had been confiscated from its owners and sold to his great-grandfather, who had been with the Armed Constabulary when it invaded Parihaka on 5 November 1881.

Honest, and intertwined with an examination of Shaws relationship with his father and of his familys Catholicism, this books key focus is urgent: how, in a decolonising world, Pakeha New Zealanders wrestle with, and own, the privilege of their colonial pasts.

A powerful memoir about racism, the Catholic church, and fathers

Richard Shaw is a professor of politics at Massey Universitys College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He is a regular commentator on political issues and the author of a number of academic publications about government, parliament and politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. His heart increasingly lies in the historical and emotional territories explored both in this and his 2021 book,The Forgotten Coast(Massey University Press).