The Wayfinder

Named one of Ten Best Books of 2025 by The Wall Street Journal “A powerful and original epic . . . Deadly politics, tragic romance and dangerous sea journeys keep the drama at a spirited boil.” “An epic of extraordinary abundance . . . modern and mythological . . . wondrous enough to endure.” “An epic that feels less created than unearthed . . . The Wayfinder is sui generis―a tapestry of South Pacific myth, archetypal quest, political allegory, environmental jeremiad and feminist revision that feels both ancient and impossibly relevant.” Talking corpses, poetic parrots, and a fan that wafts the breath of life―this is the world young Kōrero finds herself thrust into when a mysterious visitor lands on her island, a place so remote its inhabitants have forgotten the word for stranger. Her people are desperate and on the brink of starvation, and the wayward stranger offers them an impossible choice: they can remain in the only home they’ve ever known and await the uncertainty to come, or Kōrero can join him and venture into unfamiliar waters, guided by only the night sky and his assurance of a bountiful future in the Kingdom of Tonga.