Land of Love and Drowning

A major debut from an award-winning writer - an epic family saga set against the magic and the rhythms of the Virgin Islands.

In the early 1900s an important ship sinks into the Caribbean Sea, just as the Virgin Islands are transferred from Danish to American rule. Orphaned by the sunk vessel are two sisters and their half-brother, now faced with an uncertain identity and future. Each of them is unusually beautiful, and each is in possession of a particular magic that will either sink or save them.

Chronicling three generations of an island family from 1916 to the 1970s, Land of Love and Drowning is a novel of love and magic, set against the emergence of Saint Thomas into the modern world. Wholly unique, with echoes of Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the author's own Caribbean family history, the story is told in a language and rhythm that evokes an entire world and way of life and love. Following the Bradshaw family through 60 years of fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, love affairs, curses, magical gifts, loyalties, births, deaths, and triumphs, Land of Love and Drowning is a gorgeous, vibrant debut by an exciting, prize-winning young writer.

©2014 Tiphanie Yanique (P)2014 Recorded Books

Delicious like stewed cherries

I very much enjoyed this book. I the narration and cadence was very very good. The only improvement would have been to use Virgin Islands accents. I am from St. Croix. My mother from St. Thomas and the narrators were certainly not from those places. Also some of the words were mispronounced, like St. Johnian. But still an excellent book.

Vivid characters and evocations of the Caribbean.

This is a complex story set in the Caribbean with engaging characters striving toward fulfilling relationships and a dignified life.

TW: incest

This is a beautifully written book, truly lovely language. Trigger warning: this novel is full of many types and layers of incest, which will naturally be very disturbing and/or triggering for some of us.

Worth the Effort

It took me a long time, like 2/3s of the book, to finally be caught up in this story, but it turned out to be a good story. Unfortunately I had read a comparison of this book to those of Garcia Marquez, and that preset my expectations. While it isn't a Garcia Marquez-like novel, it is a good story with many generations and their histories and stories entwined. I liked the pace of the readers, their accents, and the history of the Virgin Islands.

great Virgin Islands story

loved this book. great story, great imagination and great characters. need more carribbean stories like this one.