{"product_id":"the-imaginary-lives-of-james-poneke","title":"The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke","description":"\u003cp data-w-id=\"1f5e1f95-d63d-546c-bbf2-ed7cbdb40969\" data-wf-id='[\"1f5e1f95-d63d-546c-bbf2-ed7cbdb40969\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-short-review-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-w-id=\"31cf2748-d9ca-9e55-e9e5-224d4738ed30\" data-wf-id='[\"31cf2748-d9ca-9e55-e9e5-224d4738ed30\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-short-review-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003e‘A historical love letter to London, a coming-of-age story, a love story’ Stella Duffy\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"25c28e5f-59ec-27ec-ab36-20e927373a5e\" data-wf-id='[\"25c28e5f-59ec-27ec-ab36-20e927373a5e\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-short-review-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-w-id=\"9ab00f9f-6df9-c9db-0db3-c4f6995109b1\" data-wf-id='[\"9ab00f9f-6df9-c9db-0db3-c4f6995109b1\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-short-review-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003eSHORTLISTED: New Zealand Heritage Book Awards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"75ac28b9-4631-6d5c-cbd9-dc768841ec7c\" data-wf-id='[\"75ac28b9-4631-6d5c-cbd9-dc768841ec7c\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-short-review-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-w-id=\"2ec9dc2b-4637-fd07-cf3e-818477e67358\" data-wf-id='[\"2ec9dc2b-4637-fd07-cf3e-818477e67358\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-short-review-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003eLONGLISTED: Ockham New Zealand Book Awards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"e579ca64-e47a-04d6-ee61-3b22ecba0e15\" data-wf-id='[\"e579ca64-e47a-04d6-ee61-3b22ecba0e15\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-short-review-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-w-id=\"e8d3a43e-a1c7-f7a7-80db-6f2edb3ed37a\" data-wf-id='[\"e8d3a43e-a1c7-f7a7-80db-6f2edb3ed37a\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-short-review-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003eLONGLISTED: International Dublin Literary Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"58d51c9d-e66f-3bba-c03c-5adfe8021255\" data-wf-id='[\"58d51c9d-e66f-3bba-c03c-5adfe8021255\"]'\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"cba80848-d46b-377b-f68b-03b5efd52923\" data-wf-id='[\"cba80848-d46b-377b-f68b-03b5efd52923\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-description-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003eJames Poneke is a young Maori orphan, raised by missionaries, with a burning desire to travel and explore the world. When an English artist on a tour of New Zealand invites James to return home with him, the boy eagerly accepts and agrees to become a living exhibit at the artist’s London show.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"ad26f09d-d607-e4cb-d23f-6a302ed4aecb\" data-wf-id='[\"ad26f09d-d607-e4cb-d23f-6a302ed4aecb\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-description-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003eBy day, James dresses in full tribal outfit, being stared at, prodded and examined by paying visitors. By night, he is free to explore the city, but anything can happen to a young New Zealander on the savage streets of Victorian London and James is unprepared for the wonders, dangers and unearthed secrets that await.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"4c51c654-629b-d887-6a08-3859ebe8acbf\" data-wf-id='[\"4c51c654-629b-d887-6a08-3859ebe8acbf\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-description-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e\u003cem data-w-id=\"d36a8326-4134-70f4-deab-d5782ac973d3\" data-wf-id='[\"d36a8326-4134-70f4-deab-d5782ac973d3\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-description-input\" data-palette=\"Emphasized\"\u003eThe Imaginary Lives of James Poneke\u003c\/em\u003e is an unforgettable work of historical fiction in the spirit of Sarah Waters and Sarah Perry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"c898c954-fecf-f141-97be-94cebbfceaf8\" data-wf-id='[\"c898c954-fecf-f141-97be-94cebbfceaf8\"]'\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"48956b05-dd71-c500-92a0-75bbe5307f06\" data-wf-id='[\"48956b05-dd71-c500-92a0-75bbe5307f06\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e‘A riveting vision of the world seen from the inside out. \u003cem data-w-id=\"832ebb98-17ab-c50b-a156-129b061fbeca\" data-wf-id='[\"832ebb98-17ab-c50b-a156-129b061fbeca\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-palette=\"Emphasized\"\u003eThe Imaginary Lives of James Poneke\u003c\/em\u003e is a gutsy, searing and totally absorbing read. I loved it all the way’ \u003cstrong data-w-id=\"20e00b64-90bc-8cab-a5a2-3616dbe35af8\" data-wf-id='[\"20e00b64-90bc-8cab-a5a2-3616dbe35af8\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003eFiona Kidman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"2ef402c2-6ca0-b1df-ed56-a29748d8653c\" data-wf-id='[\"2ef402c2-6ca0-b1df-ed56-a29748d8653c\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e‘Made streets I’ve walked a thousand times seem new and strange’ \u003cstrong data-w-id=\"94a37203-7553-c5ab-3ce9-1c89ceb70a57\" data-wf-id='[\"94a37203-7553-c5ab-3ce9-1c89ceb70a57\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-quotes-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003eDamian Barr\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"95b71183-7624-2be6-14ca-41093f891813\" data-wf-id='[\"95b71183-7624-2be6-14ca-41093f891813\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e‘Hemi has a voice that redresses some of the air-brushed history of empire but more than anything his novel is a fascinating coming of age’\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e NB Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"33c19ce6-1742-8167-c6fd-587c3334eae9\" data-wf-id='[\"33c19ce6-1742-8167-c6fd-587c3334eae9\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e‘\u003cem data-w-id=\"15f87b7c-fdb9-d6c2-b4a0-1a1f688b9123\" data-wf-id='[\"15f87b7c-fdb9-d6c2-b4a0-1a1f688b9123\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-palette=\"Emphasized\"\u003eThe Imaginary Lives of James Poneke\u003c\/em\u003e is many things: part unsparing colonial reckoning; part fraught coming-of-age memoir; part PT Barnum-inflected tale of spectacle, showmanship and the picaresque’ \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong data-w-id=\"e12fba03-7e8b-a25d-e90a-2c4cb1fc68b2\" data-wf-id='[\"e12fba03-7e8b-a25d-e90a-2c4cb1fc68b2\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003eNZ Listener\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"f9adbd6b-99e4-fd27-ff84-ae9c5d601783\" data-wf-id='[\"f9adbd6b-99e4-fd27-ff84-ae9c5d601783\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e‘Suggestive and thoughtful as well as being a very compelling story’ \u003cstrong data-w-id=\"cbe68c9e-f722-2cf1-5dd2-40a37836bf73\" data-wf-id='[\"cbe68c9e-f722-2cf1-5dd2-40a37836bf73\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-reviews-input\" data-palette=\"Strong\"\u003eLouise O’Brien, Radio New Zealand\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"c898c954-fecf-f141-97be-94cebbfceaf8\" data-wf-id='[\"c898c954-fecf-f141-97be-94cebbfceaf8\"]'\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch6 data-w-id=\"5142a85d-3eec-6171-d642-4b8fa22e350a\" data-wf-id='[\"5142a85d-3eec-6171-d642-4b8fa22e350a\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-product-description-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003ePaperback: 256pp\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003ch6 data-w-id=\"190f221c-c186-fddd-1863-f481b02fcf35\" data-wf-id='[\"190f221c-c186-fddd-1863-f481b02fcf35\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-product-description-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003ePublished: Lightning (September 2019)\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003ch6 data-w-id=\"d1e978d0-59a2-b9c8-59c7-8c15f4cf7e26\" data-wf-id='[\"d1e978d0-59a2-b9c8-59c7-8c15f4cf7e26\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-product-description-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003eISBN: 9781785631528\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003cp data-w-id=\"d1e978d0-59a2-b9c8-59c7-8c15f4cf7e26\" data-wf-id='[\"d1e978d0-59a2-b9c8-59c7-8c15f4cf7e26\"]' data-automation-id=\"dyn-item-product-description-input\" data-palette=\"Paragraph\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eye Books Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":19513831882814,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1271\/4023\/files\/Screenshot2025-11-19at19.57.56.png?v=1763582393","url":"https:\/\/www.eyebooksgroup.com\/products\/the-imaginary-lives-of-james-poneke","provider":"Eye Books Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}