Mister Pip

This book won a heap of awards in New Zealand, and was nominated for the Man Booker.
I can see why it was celebrated with awards, and while YA is not really my thing, this book was an enjoyable read.

Set in Bougainville, early the civil war, so somewhere in the 1988-92 range (before military peacekeepers were placed on the island), as told by Matilda, a fourteen year old girl, living with her mother. The local Australian-owned copper mine has been closed, and the expats have all left, except for one - Mr Watts. Matilda's father, who worked at the mine has also left, and is living and working in Townsville (Australia), where he went with his Australian employer on their departure.

The story starts shortly after the blockade, so mail, and imported foodstuffs are no longer available. Mr Watts steps in to teach the children, and he begins by reading out loud - Dickens' Great Expectations.Through out the story, the children warm to Mr Pip and his story. They also learn about Mr Watts and his wife, a local woman who left the island on a scholarship, and returned with Mr Watts, but was never really accepted back into the community. This is all set to a background of the rebels, native Bouganvilleans who are largely made up of young boys from villages such as the one they live in, and the redskins - the Papuan soldiers who are opposing the independence movement of Bougainville. Bougainville is ecologically and geographically part of the Solomon Islands, but not culturally or ethnically. (The Solomon's identify ethnically by the language they speak - and there are up to seventy ethnic groups, therefore they recognise no bond with the Bouganinvilleans).In the ten years of civil unrest, 15000 people were killed. That events went so far before the Australian and New Zealand governments intervened is terrible, but eventually a peace agreement was brokered, leading to autonomy. I had some concerns during reading that the descriptions offered by a young girl were ‘wise beyond her years', but ultimately this is explained, and the writing was clever in weaving aspects of the story together, releasing information as it is required in quite a clever manner.Overall, I enjoyed reading this. 3.5 stars, rounded up.