Two books that put you in the Solomon Islands. One, Tell It As It Is: Autobiography of Rt. Hon. Sir Peter Kenilorea, KBE, PC, is by a writer from the Solomon Islands and set there. The other is a wider pick, by someone who knows the place well.
Few books by Solomon Islanders are available in English, so much of what readers find about the islands comes from outsiders. Stories, genealogies and customs have long been passed on by word of mouth in the islands' many local languages, and there is little publishing at home. English is the official language, while Solomon Islands Pijin, an English-based lingua franca, is spoken widely in daily life.
Peter Kenilorea's Tell It As It Is is the autobiography of the first prime minister, from a Malaita childhood and mission schooling to independence in 1978. Roger Keesing's Kwaio Religion describes the ancestor-centred world of the Kwaio people of the Malaita highlands. Will Randall's Solomon Time is a British volunteer's memoir of village life on Simbo in the Western Province, and Walter Lord's Lonely Vigil tells of the wartime coastwatchers who relied on local scouts and villagers.
The first prime minister recounts a Malaita childhood, mission schooling, colonial rule and the path to independence in 1978.
By long-time residents and outsiders who know the place well, or folk tales, poetry and history with a strong feel for the Solomon Islands.
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A memoir of rural life on Simbo in the Western Province, covering village customs, daily routines and outsider-local friction.
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