How to Be an Alien
A sort of memoir
Book •
Anne Beaglehole's memoir recounts her family's flight from Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution, their time in a refugee camp, and resettlement in New Zealand.
The book intertwines personal memories of childhood, family dynamics and cultural dislocation with reflections on identity as Hungarian, Jewish and Kiwi.
Beaglehole also draws on her later work with refugees and migrants to critique New Zealand's attitudes and policies, blending the personal with the political.
She depicts generational tensions, especially with a grandmother who longs to return to Hungary, and the pressures placed on a child expected to succeed.
The memoir situates individual experience within broader historical events, offering insight into displacement, belonging and the migrant contribution to Aotearoa.
The book intertwines personal memories of childhood, family dynamics and cultural dislocation with reflections on identity as Hungarian, Jewish and Kiwi.
Beaglehole also draws on her later work with refugees and migrants to critique New Zealand's attitudes and policies, blending the personal with the political.
She depicts generational tensions, especially with a grandmother who longs to return to Hungary, and the pressures placed on a child expected to succeed.
The memoir situates individual experience within broader historical events, offering insight into displacement, belonging and the migrant contribution to Aotearoa.
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Lynn Freeman
Book review: How to be an Alien
