Leaves of the Banyan Tree by Albert Wendt (1979)

This is a second-hand copy of the book Leaves of the Banyan Tree by Albert Wendt (1979).

Condition: This is a used book in very good condition. The dustjacket has light shelf-wear and sun fading to the spine. The dust jacket has now been covered in a non-adhesive PVC cover for its own protection. This is simply folded in place and is easy to remove without damaging the jacket.

Publisher: Longman Paul
Year: 1979
ISBN: 0582717701
Format: Hardback with dustjacket
Pages: 416
Condition: Used (Very good)

A family saga that contrasts three generations of Western Samoans as a way of exploring the effects of colonialism before and after the country's independence from New Zealand. Tauilopepe, the grandfather, who lives on his family's plantation in a farming village, wages a 30-year struggle in the face of European encroachment to extend his family's lands and acquire wealth, power, and prestige. "God, Money and Success'' is his credo. His rebellious son, Pepe, winds up doing hard labor after being expelled from the town school and helping to torch a Protestant church hall "because God does not live in it.'' He soon dies of tuberculosis and leaves behind a son, Lalolagi, who is taken away from his mother by Tauilopepe and sent to a New Zealand boarding school where he is groomed for success and consequently rejects the Samoan language in favor of English. Later, Lalolagi falls in with businessmen and con men of Samoan and European backgrounds, apparently newly united in their determination to exploit the independent country's resources. This book dramatically illustrates the dilemma of a family caught between holding onto old values as everything changes around them and compromising those values in order to survive.