Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story Paperback – Illustrated, July 14, 2009

I read this book while visiting New Zealand. I am Dutch. My family emigrated here in 1964. I slept last night in my brother’s house. His partner’s great great great grandmother was a Maori woman.Yesterday we visited Takapuneke, the site of a massacre in 1830 that led to the creation of the Treaty of Waitangi.This wonderfully honest exploration of the meeting of two humans from two different worlds was the perfect companion.I myself married and had a daughter with a man born in the Virgin Islands whose ancestors include enslaved people from Angola, Taino people who were living on those islands before Columbus came, and Jewish enslavers from Denmark who came to make their fortunes growing sugarcane.Christine Thompson feels like a soul mate. Thank you Christine.

I genuinely enjoyed the history lessons and found myself Googling many things mentioned in this book to learn more. To me, it was the perfect introduction to the Maori history and culture.The personal story that is weaved into the book felt lacking. I was left wanting to know much more about the author's husband and his thoughts about her taking on this writing project (she is a white academic from Boston; he is a blue collar Maori). Additionally, the last couple chapters felt self indulgent. I understand why the author wrote about her privileged family tree, but it felt tacky to me.In all, this is a good read, and I recommend it. I found myself talking about it at parties, sharing some of the grim facts (cannibalism) and curious history (a female Brit prisoner leaving ship to stay alone in New Zealand). It was just enough history to be interesting, and not so much that I felt I was sitting in class. Well done.

A white person, having grown up next to and going to school on an Indian reservation in Northern California I fully appreciate Christina Thompson’s work in this book to come to terms with what that means in my own life. She peels back the layers with sensitivity and humor that are quite wonderful.

This was recommended as a book to read before traveling to New Zealand. It feels a little dated given the awakening around racism in the 21at century. I tend to prefer my histories chronologically, and the interruption of personal anecdotes wasn't what I was expecting. Some readers might find the entirety entertaining, and at least one can say that the book delves into the impact of colonization on the Māori people from a sympathetic perspective, but the author may try too hard to be even handed.

As an American transplant to New Zealand, I have to say that I found Christina Thompson's book an absolutely fascinating read. And as the author of two books on New Zealand myself (the second one a work-in-progress), I have to say that her volume has add immeasurably to my effort to understand, not only the historic Maori, but Maori today. I can also appreciate her cross cultural experience via marriage, being that my wife was born and raised in France. If Pakeha--Europeans--have historically viewed Maori with some ambiguity, I can testify to the fact that my French in-laws view me in a similar fashion. To put it politely they see me as a creature only a generation off the frontier that doesn't even know how to use a knife and fork properly--the French version of a savage, one might say. Ms. Thompson's Maori in-laws, on the other hand, impress me as being my idea of what in-laws should be. (I hope my mother-in-law doesn't read this.)I have only one complaint about this book, and that is that I found the lack of signposts disorienting. That is to say that the reader has no way of knowing when Ms. Thompson's journey began. Was it in the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s? Except for that omission, I would have to give this book five stars.

As a white north american once married to an African-Jamaican man, I appreciate Ms Thompsons' framing her book as one of contact between colonizer and colonized, sharing some of the history and showing as much awareness as she has of the snares of partnership across culture and class. I missed more details of the marriage itself, how they navigated these complex waters, even though I honor her statements about not wanting to cross privacy boundaries of her husband or his family. The book strikes me a valuable mix of her professional skills as an anthropologist and researcher and an honest personal story. A lively and valuable read for anyone interested in how we make contact and enter relationships across our many differences in this world. Can't disagree that Penguin History of NZ would be better history, but that is not purpose of this "story." Well written as well. Highly recommend.

To begin, Christina Thompson,the author, becomes attached and eventually marries Seven,a Maori man. As might be expected this is a match of differences and opposites which the author slowly divulges through out the book. How deep the differences are and how interesting they are to experience is what attracts Thompson thru the years of their marriage. It is what really drives this story.As these differences appear thru everyday life, they give the author an opportunity to digress into essays on Maori life. Their history,characteristics,Maori family and friends, living in a Pakeha dominated world,,etc. My favorite essay was on the huge effect that the moko-mokai (smoked heads) had on the Musket Wars..just an awesome bit of research and well told to boot!Thompson does an excellent job of morphing her life with Seven into a larger portrait of Maori-Pakeha existence..that is to say-same place, same time, but two different worlds.This a unique book for the US market. As you may be aware,not much is written about Maoris in the US. So, such a thoughtful,well researched, and easily accessible book is a real treat. Thompson's book is differently one of the best books about Maori-New Zealand available in America.