Rua | Candice Tutauha

Rua is a young Maori woman learning to navigate the world on her own terms. She dreams of becoming a writer and one day moving to New York City to begin a life far removed from the one she knows.In her tight-knit community, where whanau is everything and loyalty runs deep, gang tensions ripple through daily life, eroding the relationships that hold it together. A day of celebration ends in tragedy. In the aftermath, a soldier's diary from the Taranaki Wars draws Rua into long-buried truths and present her with choices that will inevitably shape who she becomes.As the life she's dreamed of comes within reach, Rua must decide what she is willing to sacrifice to claim it - and whether she can leave behind the one person who needs her most. Rua is the first book in a multi-generational series exploring the strength of whanau, the healing power of faith and community, and the courage it takes to reclaim your story.

CANDICE TUTAUHA (Ngati Ruanui, Te Atihaunui a Paparangi) is a writer from Aotearoa New Zealand whose work explores identity, whanau, disability and the ties between past and present. She holds a Master of Creative Writing with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland and has undertaken research connected to the Taranaki Wars. Living with XLH, Candice is passionate about creating stories that centre disabled Maori protagonists and underrepresented voices. Rua is her debut novel.