But very occasionally a manuscript arrives that strikes a chord, even on a first cursory scan. One of these lobbed into my inbox a few weeks ago. It’s a novel, Sibona, by a writer with whom I was unfamiliar.

Sibona came from Emmanuel Peni by way of Daniel Doyle, a regular reader and occasional commentator on PNG Attitude.

When I eventually got round to looking at the manuscript, something struck a chord. Here was a well-written novel, of good length, and on a subject that really needs to be explored and exposed.

The original working title of Sibona was Yu Ting Yu Man Ah! The phrase translates from Tok Pisin to ‘you think you are a man heh!’. 

It was a title meant to bring out the stigma, discrimination and prejudice against women and girls in Papua New Guinea and, especially, the destructive internal self-hate, self-discrimination and lateral-horizontal violence among women themselves. 

However, as the story progressed the title changed to The Other Family. This occurred as the characterisations evolved within an increasingly intricate and complex narrative involving expectations, obligations and relationships.

It then became obvious that the wider, non-biological family, with whom the characters slowly developed more lasting and meaningful relationships, was paramount.

When the story ended it was also obvious that it was really about one person - Sibona. The word sibona in the coastal Motu culture has contextual meanings - ‘by herself, by oneself, alone, she is the one’.

All these meanings gelled seamlessly into a story about the courage and resilience of one individual against many obstacles, including some that were inhumane.

Sibona portrays the best and the worst of contemporary Papua New Guinean culture, where violence in all its forms has been normalised.

Prejudice, stigma and discrimination - together with violence and issues of gender and sexuality, relationships, communication of expectations and obligations, conflicting religious and cultural practices and their interpretations - have made the lives of modern urban Papua New Guineans very capricious.

That said, this is not a dark or depressive story.  It is sad and occasionally shocking but it is often hilarious. And that, I think, is the best way to deal with such subject matter.

I believe it is a novel that would sit very well in both a high school and university English literature course – it is ripe for analysis.

The author, Emmanuel (Manu) Peni, 43, was born in Bogia, Madang, the eighth in a family of 10.  He is a single parent with a son named Tumunjuwang.

Emmanuel has a bachelor’s degree in applied science but works in organisational development, mostly in the not-for-profit sector.

He’s the co-owner and co-director of a PNG micro finance company, People Centered OD Consultancies. Emmanuel has written several unpublished short stories but this is his first book.

As a bonus the novel comes with a cover featuring an original 2007 acrylic on canvas painting by Gary Juffa, Governor of Oro Province.  The painting is tailor-made for the novel and creates a beautiful introduction to the wondrous words inside.