Book description
From the sugar plantations of Saint-Domingue to the lavish parlors of New Orleans at the turn of the 19th century, Isabel Allende's latest novel tells the story of a mulatta woman, a slave and concubine, determined to take control of her own destiny in a society where that would seem…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Island Beneath the Sea as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This recommendation is a work of fiction. Overall, Allende is an incredible storyteller whose characters seem so real that by the end of the book, you feel like you know them in the same way you know family or an old friend. Island Beneath the Sea, set in 18th - 19th century Haiti then in New Orleans, is a story that illustrates the beautiful messes we create in our lives through those that we love and those that we hate. Drawing on the chaos of American slavery and the Haitian Revolution, Allende’s book draws on themes related to slavery, politics,…
From Jada's list on what happens when biology and culture collide.
This novel also explores the suffering inflicted on enslaved Black women by their White colonial masters. An unwilling French heir to his father’s plantation buys an adolescent slave girl as his wife’s maid. But then he uses the child for sex, while she longs for freedom. Fortunately, there’s a faint light of hope at the end of the tunnel of oppression.
The fact that this story is set during the time when enslaved Africans revolted against France, made me celebrate the indefatigable spirit of these warriors. Despite defeating Napoleon’s army and becoming the first self-liberated slave society, Haitians were faced…
From Eleanor's list on Caribbean slavery and its aftermath.
If you love Island Beneath the Sea...
The Ballad of Falling Rock
Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: “Are his love songs closer to heaven than dying?” Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard it…
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