Multi-generational family saga set in Samoa from around 1900 to the 1970s. Patriarch Tauilopepe, an ambitious man, allows greed to overtake his life. It portrays a wide swath of Samoan history and provides insight into Samoan culture. Unfortunately, it is so slow in developing that I found it a chore to read. The characters are unpleasant, and the storyline reflects even more unpleasantness (e.g., rape, religious abuses, environmental devastation). The author was born in Samoa, and he provides a scathing indictment of colonialism its ongoing negative impact. It relates one horrible occurrence after the next, which is not the type of story that appeals to me. ( )