As English settlers wage war upon local iwi in colonial Taranaki, two women confront their pasts to survive the present. Frances is an unmarried Londoner newly landed in New Zealand, 1860, at the dawn of the First Taranaki War. Once well-regarded, her family's fall from grace sees them struggling to learn the strange etiquette of settler life. When Frances comes face-to-face with Henry White, the man who jilted her a decade earlier, he's standing outside Thorpe's General Store with a sack of flour in his arms. Henry is married now — to the proud and hardy Matāria, who is shunned by her whānau due to this controversial marriage. As conflict between settlers and iwi rises, both women must find the courage to fight for what is right, even if it costs them everything they know. As their lives intersect in surprising and catastrophic ways, the question remains — will they ever belong, or do their fates lie in the uncomfortable space between? This gripping historical...

Here are the best short stories and novel extracts from the Pikihuia Awards for Māori writers 2017 as judged by Whiti Hereaka, Paula Morris, Poia Rewi and Rawinia Higgins. The book contains the stories from the finalists for Best Short Story written in English, Best Short Story written in te reo Māori and Best Novel Extract categories.

Amorangi and Millie lost their mum. Their only clue to her whereabouts is a carving on a tree that says I'm in the past! Rescue me! To do this, Amorangi and Millie must travel up every branch of their family tree and collect an object from each ancestor they meet. They must then be back in the modern day before the sun sets, or they'll all be trapped forever in the past. But can they do it in time?In their travels, the children experience aspects of events in New Zealand history, such as the invasion of Parihaka, the Great Depression, World War Two, the Musket Wars and the eruption of Mount Taranaki. They also experience changes in the town and landscape, the attitudes of people and the way people live their lives.

On the way to school, Amorangi realises he forgot to bring an old object to school to talk about.Quickly, he and his sister, Millie, decide to travel back in time and find something. They've travelledback before, after all. He pulls a piece of bark from a nearby rimu and pockets it to ensure theyreturn then they jump back in time. Then begins an adventure that they nearly don't make it backfrom as one of their ancestors dies, and Amorangi and Millie find themselves fading away. In theirtravels, the children experience aspects of events in New Zealand history, such as the Taranakiwars, the Tarawera eruption, theWahine disaster and quarantine onMatiu/Somes Island.