27/2021. This is a chicklit-style novel set in Tahiti about a middle-aged couple in their forties but told mostly from the husband's point of view and especially delves into the meaning and practice of various forms of fatherhood. It's technically the third novel in a series but it worked for me as a standalone. As ever with this relatively light-hearted style of social commentary, a reader is either in tune with the author's humour and perspective on life or not but I think this novel is easy to enjoy (and I'm not the target audience for this genre).

Quotes from Tiare in Bloom

Small islands: 'And being Tahitian means... being diplomatic with the relatives, because you're going to bump into your relatives day after day after day until you die, so it's important to get along.

Context is for the weak: ' "Our story wasn't just a story of arse..." Leilani's voice cracks.'

When your mother doesn't like your husband: 'Materena remembers a conversation she had with her mother a few days ago about how in her next life she might comes back as a lesbian. And her mother said, "Why wait?" '

Find a wife, or else: ' "Mama organized a prayer night at my place." Then speaking between his teeth he adds, "It's to help me find a good wife. All my aunties are here, they're driving me mad with their church songs." ' ( )

Matarena è solare e speciale, allieta le giornate ma ti porta anche a riflettere sulla vita di coppia e sugli uomini...Mi piace molto questa scrittrice. Sono pentita di non aver sottolineato nulla...Ero al mare, senza matita, grave errore! Comunque la forza e il carattere di Matarena, ma anche la sua pazienza e lungimiranza mi sono di stimolo.

A fun read, and reminded me compelling of my brief 6 weeks visiting Papeete as a young and naive exchange student. I didn't buy into the theory that men's suckitude is due to hormones and once they hit man-opause they become fantastic grandfathers, any more than into the similar theory espoused in chapter 21 of A Clockwork Orange which I firmly believe the original editor was right to cut out. But at least, for whatever reason, the title character does grow, and the other characters (especially of course Matarena) are a delight. ( )

This book really had me - I get so attached to these characters! I also love all of the language stuff, so it sucks me right in. ( )

The third installment in the life of Materena Mahi and her extended clan finds our heroine Materena searching for the French father she's never met while her husband, Pito Tehana, deals with a small surprise-- Tiare, the newest member of the family-- and finally grows up.

I recommended the author, Celestine Vaite, to my mother, who in turn recommended her to her sister, who in turn recommended her to a friend, and all have fallen in love with the characters and the stories. It is sweet and charming; light fiction at its best. ( )