In the novel’s closing lines, Kahu reveals that she has been talking to whales throughout the whole book, likely since infancy. Some readers may find this revelation shocking. While others may find it obvious. Regardless, it is significant because it enables readers to reinterpret many crucial moments in the novel.
Most immediately, readers now know what Kahu was doing in the many scenes when she stares out at the ocean, murmuring and moaning to herself: she was talking to the whales. Arguably, the chapters on the herd’s migration may even be a direct transcription of what Kahu was hearing. Next…