English Synopsis Naupaka
The taboo-breaking autobiographical debut of journalist Lideweij Bosman was quite controversial. The daily Dutch quality paper De Volkskrant called it “one of the most controversial books in recent years”. Belgian news magazine Knack writes: “NAUPAKA is a book that will leave no-one unmoved.” Glossy women’s magazine Grazia awarded it with 5 stars: “An absolute must-read”
‘Will you marry me?’ Sander asks me on the beach of the Hawaiian island Kaua’i at daybreak. He kneels down before me in the fine sand and hands me a pearl white flower as big as my thumb. ‘Of course,’ I cry out. ‘Take a look at the shape of the flower,’ he continues, more serious now, ‘see that it’s actually a half-flower? It has to do with an ancient legend about two lovers who lived right here in Hawaii. They were inseparable. Pele, the volcano goddess of the island, tried to seduce the man, but their love was way too strong. In a blind rage she tried to bury him in lava, but her sisters intervened and transformed the man - who had fled to the mountains - into half a flower. The goddesses did the same with the woman, who had taken refuge on the beach. According to the legend they will one day be reunited.’ Sander lets out a deep sigh: ‘We are also being torn apart by evil, by my disease, and we will not grow old together either. But what I do know is that we will one day become one flower again, just like in the legend.’
Nine months later I have to let go of my beloved, the man with whom I have spent the past thirteen years of my life. I hand in my notice as a fashion journalist and move from Utrecht to Big Island, Hawaii, to work on an ecological farm. Not just to come to terms with my grief and to gain back my strength after the debilitating struggle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but also as a way to heal the Naupaka flower.
I discover that my new home is located at the foot of Pele’s volcano and as if she’s calling me to her, I venture out into the black lava fields on the second night of my stay, to meet up with her in the churning lava. For Hawaiian natives the legend of Naupaka is still very much alive and when I let myself be swept along to all kinds of holy places on the island, I start to understand why.
An old medicine woman, a shaman and a group of wild spinner dolphins show me that my presence here is no coincidence. I too have been torn in half, just like the Naupaka flower. The six years of illness, with all the fears and shattered hope, have robbed me of my self-esteem, self-confidence and self-love. ‘You have to write a book,’ insists the medicine woman, ‘to share the lessons you have learned.’
Back on Dutch soil, I follow her advice and seclude myself for several months to write.
When the end of the book is in sight, the unavoidable question pops up: Is the Naupaka flower whole again? The answer comes to me early one Tuesday morning, in a coffee place in my hometown. Suddenly everything becomes clear. By writing this book I have become the embodiment of/I have integrated the life lessons I have learned. Naupaka has healed me. Naupaka has allowed me to blossom with new life force. The flower is perfect.