Poema

A young Polynesian woman, Poema Farepa, learns from a neighbor that a highway is to be built next to her property in a quiet area on the west coast of Tahiti. As she slowly describes to her little nieces her plot to stop the project, she tells them of her childhood in the Tuamotu Archipelago. <>Poema is born unwanted into her family. She endures a difficult childhood of work and neglect and mischief, uplifted only by the appearances of the ghost of her grandmother. She is influenced heavily by the visit of the niece of the Belgian parish priest. She has a sexual encounter at an island feast and becomes pregnant. She is found out by her mother, is beaten, and loses the child. She becomes incorrigible and is sent to Tahiti to be with her sister. <>Poema continues her plotting against the highway, making up her schemes as she goes along, and tells her nieces of her move to Tahiti and her life there. <>Poema works hard in Tahiti and fits in well with her sisters family. Her respite is short-lived however, as her parents arrive due to her fathers ill health. Poema is devastated by the death of her infant niece. After a session in court and a period as a runaway and sexual adventuress, her world falls apart and she follows her sister to New Caledonia. <>Becoming more involved in solving the theft of black pearls in Tuamotu, Poema tells of her life in Noumea and her attempts to gain money and her fathers respect. <>Poema finds work and a lover in Noumea. She dumps him quickly for a rich older man, Mr. Richard, and prepares to make her fortune by having the old man make a down payment for her on a parcel of land in Tahiti. Her desire to impress her father comes to naught. She departs Noumea with another scheme in mind. <>Poema finds work on Bora Bora to pay for the houses she is building on her land. A storm destroys everything and Poema must start again. She meets an American tourist, Robert Quintin, with whom she carries on a romantic correspondence. They agree, despite language and cultural differences, to try a life together in California. She is picked up by Quintin and they fly to Los Angeles. <>Poema continues her fight against the highway and tries to bluff the mayor of her district into stopping the project <>Life is hell for Poema in a land of different language, culture, and expectations. She involves herself in fantasized mysteries to relieve the boredom of marriage. She loses a child to an ectopic pregnancy. Quintin discovers she has been supporting her family with money saved for their future. The marriage, for all intents and purposes, is over. <>Poema confront the mayor once again and feels triumphant after their showdown. Poema returns to Tahiti to care for her dying father. She hopes to gain redemption from him, but he dies in the hospital having barely spoken a word. Poema creates her own redemption. She informs her husband by telegram that she must remain in Tahiti. <>Poema gathers her neighbors for a final confrontation to stop the highway project. A battle ensues with the construction crew. Poemas forces win out and her little nieces crown her Queen of Tahiti.