Once Were Warriors cover art

Once Were Warriors

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

$8.99/mo after trial ends. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

Once Were Warriors

By: Alan Duff
Narrated by: Jay Laga'aia
Try for $0.00

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $27.82

Buy Now for $27.82

Summary

 Once Were Warriors is Alan Duff's harrowing vision of his country's indigenous people two hundred years after the English conquest. In prose that is both raw and compelling, it tells the story of Beth Heke, a Maori woman struggling to keep her family from falling apart, despite the squalor and violence of the housing projects in which they live. Conveying both the rich textures of Maori tradition and the wounds left by its absence, Once Were Warriors is a masterpiece of unblinking realism, irresistible energy, and great sorrow.©1990 Alan Duff (P)2013 Bolinda Publishing Fiction Historical Fiction Social Classes & Economic Disparity Sociology Warrior
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c

Critic Reviews

Duff (himself the son of a Maori mother and a white father) shows amazing facility with language in the intense, fast-paced, choppy internal monologues he gives his characters ... Duff shows courage in attacking the view that assimilation is the first step out of poverty, and he does so by spinning a compelling tale. (Kirkus Reviews)
Alan Duff's first novel bursts upon the literary landscape with all the noise and power of a new volcano. (Witi Ihimaera)
"A searing look at the urban subculture of New Zealand's native people." (Toronto Globe and Mail)
"A starkly realistic account...as important, as frank, as powerful a book as [Alice Walker's The Color Purple] was for Americans." (Dominion (New Zealand))
All stars
Most relevant
very different from the movie it made me cry . we are all lost weather brown white yellow .Thank you Alan Thank you Jay Laga'aia for reading to me much appreciated 😪💜

Once Where Worriors by Alan Duff

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazing story. I’ve watched the movie prior to listening to the book but the book is by far a better way to grasp the emotional and tragic story. Very sad to listen to the despair of the characters.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Best performance by a narrator.
The story shows you a true image of the Maori experience, that of the underprivileged, self destructive folks. Unexpectedly sad and startling storyline.

Sad and beautiful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great story told brilliantly. I was drawn in from the very beginning. Jay's narration gave this story the vibrancy and feeling it deserves. Loved it!

excellent narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Incredibly written, and the performance is bang on. Probably the saddest book I've ever read.

heartbreaking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.