Publisher's Synopsis
Island hop through Oceania with veteran reporter Graeme Kennedy. Visit Samoa and American Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Niue, and Wallis & Futuna in this eagerly awaited, expanded, and newly illustrated FULL COLOUR edition of Volumes One and Two of his best-selling "New Tales of the South Pacific."This enhanced collection of beautifully written short stories is based on an intriguing cast of characters and their triumphant and tragic experiences. It has been expanded to feature a special new Tale, "The Adventurer," in which Kennedy pays tribute to an old and dear friend, John William Fox Walton. In yet another, he takes a short look at a few bits of uniqueness on the coral island of Niue.There is another, gritty side to the Pacific Kennedy has come to know well - a side away from the five-star resorts - where the realities of life make dreams fragile. Volume 1 begins with a brief history of the Oceania region; then moves on to highlight some of the varied cultures that have made the South Pacific their home; Kennedy uses some very personal vignettes to showcase a few familiar character types. The highlight of Volume 2 is the life story of the Queen of the South Seas, the legendary Aggie Grey, who was once thought to have been Michener's model for his outrageous character, Bloody Mary. "More New Tales of the South Pacific" includes stories of black humour, despair in the happiest of Pacific Islands, and the bittersweet end of life for two persons who, like Robert Louis Stevenson, go to Samoa to die. Reminiscent of the great Louis Becke, "More New Tales of the South Pacific" is Kennedy at his best.
