Island Beneath the Sea

Isabel Allende has been a prolific writer and I have only read a handful of her books - 'The House of the Spirits', 'Of Love and Shadows', 'The Infinite Plan' and 'Paula' (I think that's all). Each of her book that I've read, I've really enjoyed as they take you on a journey to another country and another time and I always emerge from the book believing I've learnt something about each.

Island Beneath the Sea is another epic novel that spans 1770 through to 1810 in Saint-Domingue, (what is now known as Haiti), Cuba and New Orleans following the life of Zarite - known as Tete.

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 impossible. Born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue, Zarite - known as Tete - is the daughter of an African mother she never knew and one of the white sailors who brought her into bondage. Though her childhood is one of brutality and fear, Tete finds solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and the voodoo loas she discovers through her fellow slaves. 


When twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770, it's with powdered wigs in his trunks and dreams of financial success in his mind. But running his father's plantation, Saint Lazare, is neither glamorous nor easy. Against the merciless backdrop of sugar cane fields, the lives of Tete and Valmorain grow ever more intertwined. When the bloody revolution of Toussaint Louverture arrives at the gates of Saint Lazare, they flee the island that will become Haiti for the decadence and opportunity of New Orleans. There, Tete finally forges a new life - but her connection to Valmorain is deeper than anyone knows and not so easily severed. 


Spanning four decades, Island Beneath the Sea is the moving story of one woman's determination to find love amid loss, to offer humanity though her own has been so battered, and to forge her own identity in the cruellest of circumstances.


As described above, the novel is an epic and a long story but well worth the effort. I found it fascinating (and horrifying) to read about the conditions of slaves in that time - and the abuse they suffered under various different occupying forces. I know the story isn't true, although I'm sure there is a lot of truth in the historical aspect, but I  was always terrified for the children in the story and intrigued at the lengths parents will go to and the bravery required, to improve the lives of their children. One example of this, was when slaves got pregnant they attempted to forcibly abort the babies so that they wouldn't have to grow up in slavery - ok, that's a very extreme example and doesn't really improve the child's life, but it stuck in my mind.


Fascinating story, a bit long in places, but as I said before, well worth the effort.