Melal: A Novel of the Pacific by Robert Barclay

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In his wildly imaginative historical first novel, Robert Barclay has wrought a sobering morality tale that defies categorization. Melal is the story of the clashing of two cultures and the fight of a native island people to preserve their ancestral way of life despite the presence of the American military.

The Marshall Islands -- the lushly tropical setting for Melal -- spent nearly 40 years under U.S. administration. During this trusteeship, the United States used the islands to test the most powerful weapons on earth. On the now-polluted, densely populated island of Ebeye, we meet the Keju family: Rujen, a widower who, with the help of his extended clan, is raising his two sons. A native Marshallese, Rujen has spent his adult life working for the Americans to obtain the marginal level of acceptance he now enjoys. In true colonial fashion, Americans are suspicious of the islanders, who are forced to live in comparative squalor.

Rujen's older son, Jebro, rejects his father's attempts to assimilate, choosing instead to embrace his ancestry. As he teaches the lessons of their heritage to his younger brother, the extraordinarily complex and mysterious Marshallese folklore comes to life. Theirs is an exciting, frightening, and haunting journey -- one that slowly brings to light the cultural essence needed to create strength within a society, and that forces the reader to question our capability of achieving that same strength in our own. Melal is an important tale to which only this talented Pacific Islander could do justice. (Summer 2002 Selection)

From the Publisher

In this highly original work of history and adventure, novelist Robert Barclay weaves together characters and stories from mythological times with those of the present day to give readers a rare and unsparing look at life in the contemporary Pacific.

Dr. Lesley S.J. Farmer - KLIATT

A day in paradise must be perfect, right? No. In this tale set on an atoll of the Marshall Islands, the mythological and mundane intertwine in the lives of natives and Americans. The story takes place in 1981, but it is also timeless. Rujen Kenu works at a sewer plant, and his teenage son Jebro is set to begin working at the same site the next Monday. In the meantime, he and his younger brother Nuke disobey the American edict about not landing on the ancestral island of Tar Moj. All day on Good Friday, Rujen has an ominous feeling. His bike is wrecked, his shoes are stolen, and he destroys the Christ figure in his beloved Catholic church. His sons have his boat sunk by three drunken American teenagers, and the gods are playing with uncontrollable magic while evil lurks. What is the role of antiquity-and progress? How can natives commit to their culture and still survive modern values? Can these entities co-exist? Barclay has lived in the Marshall Islands for many years, and his intimate knowledge of those cultures shows in his lyrical treatment of the Marshallese. In addition, he captures the angst of both teenage and adult norms and expectations. This is a special coming-of-age book that merits strong promotion and support. Few books explain the feeling of Ohana (family) and the impact of "foreign" American values as well as Barclay; he deserves a wide readership. KLIATT Codes: A-Recommended for advanced students and adults. 2002, University of Hawaii Press, 300p., Ages 17 to adult.

Honolulu Advertiser

For those who, like most Americans, know little of the Marshall Islands or their history, there is much to learn and much of it disturbing. But Barclay evokes the beauty of the atolls and introduces cheerful, resilient characters amid the bleak waste-strewn landscape, so the book never descends into unrelenting darkness. Furthermore, he makes clear the wrongs that have been done to the Marshallese people without stridency or self-consciousness. He just lets you see. Barclay tells a human story about people who are tackling universal problems.

Pacific magazine

This book is astonishing....

What People Are Saying

Patricia Grace
It is wonderful to have a novel coming from the Pacific of people firmly rooted in the past and present of the great ocean, its atolls, islands, homes, and spiritual homelands. This is a wrenching story of people—voiceless, powerless—as they attempt to survive the horrors of nuclear testing, relocation, Western arrogance and domination. It is a good story with robust characters—some real and contemporary, others mythical and ancient—and an important book.

Ian MacMillan
What separates this novel from others, even highly respected ones, is its extraordinary descriptive mastery. . . . This precise and vivid evocation of experience is what writing has been about from the beginning. In all respects, this is a superb book.

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