Wreck

Young Léna's quest is to gain an awareness of a repressed childhood trauma. It is, she says, like the excitement of a detective sensing he's about to uncover the clue that will open the gates of truth. "Naked, cruel, indecent -- whatever. I must have the truth. And I will track it down until it blows up in my face." Set against the fight for independence in New Caledonia, The Wreck is the first Kanak novel and a turbulent examination of inter-generational abuse. Déwé Gorodé is a poet, feminist and a prominent independence activist.