Unwanted is a novel (Creative element) accompanied by a critical work (exegesis), Fuluhi ki tua ke kitia mitaki a mua: Turn backwards so that you may see forward well. It follows the coming of age story of a young pre-teen Niuean boy, being raised by extended family after his single mother passes his care to her older sister.

The thesis asks the question, of whether a bildungsroman novel (coming of age) can be written which, while set in Aotearoa New Zealand (namely Tāmaki Makaurau–Auckland) can embrace and evoke whakapapa and cosmological connections to the Pacific, namely Niue while capturing the complex cultural and social experiences of Auckland in the 1970s (particularly the fraught events of The Dawn Raids).

The critical work (Exegesis) supports the novel (Creative element) by exploring the dilemma of cultural and generational space in those world views framed within the context of diaspora, themes of identity and belonging, and how the migrant experience influences the development of the central character.