In 1806, an English ship ventures to the remote and lonely islands of New Zealand and returns with a peculiar passenger. As the guest of the ship's surgeon, Dr John Savage, a young native named Mohanga becomes the first of the Maori to explore the land of the English. His heavily tattooed face causes a sensation in London, where he is invited to perform a haka war dance in the presence of King George. Dr Savage's actual historical account is the point of departure for this novel, a phantasmagoria in which the reader experiences, through Mohanga's native eyes, the ascent of a hot-air balloon, siamese-twins at Bartholomew Fair, the view through William Herschell’s telescope, the sudden hectic spasm of a cukoo-clock, the sky bursting with fireworks, a performance of Othello, and much more.The England to which Dr Savage returns is changing. There are the first hints of a revolution in industry; and in society, the long effort to abolish slavery hangs in the balance, a decision that may have repercussions for how the peoples in the ‘Romantic South Seas,’ will be looked upon and treated. Dr Savage’s own future hangs in the balance, as he returns to England to plead his innocence after he, as a colonial assistant surgeon, is judged responsible for a shocking event. As he fights to absolve himself, and wrestles with the great questions of the age, he and Mohanga’s lives become more intertwined. At the height of their unusual friendship, Mohanga becomes lost in London, and is tested in ways he could never have imagined at the outset of his journey. As Savage searches desperately for his lost friend, he must also prepare to face his fate.With pathos generated by the alternating narrative perspectives of Mohanga and Dr Savage, this tale of a brave young Maori explorer is also about the origins of a nation, and the early relationship, between Maori and Pakeha, Englishman and Noble Savage.
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