Land of Love and Drowning

Name: Land of Love and Drowning
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4 (3 reviews)
Author: Tiphanie Yanique
ISBN: 9781490619071

Author: Tiphanie Yanique

Narrator: Cherise Boothe, Korey Jackson, Rachel Leslie, Myra Lucretia Taylor

Unabridged: 14 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 08/08/2014

Categories: Fiction, Historical Fiction, African American & Black Fiction, Literary Fiction

Synopsis

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 sixty 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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by karen on October 06, 2018

in the vivid and memorable opening scene of this novel, owen arthur bradshaw rescues a little girl from a potentially dangerous and decidedly undignified situation. but don't start organizing a parade for him just yet, because he is certainly no hero to little girls, especially when it comes to his d......more

Goodreads review by Patti on August 28, 2014

This is one of the most important books I've ever read. I was enlightened on the history of the US Virgin Islands in a unique and mind-bending way while being told an amazing story. The island culture is interwoven in this narrative rich in magical realism, social struggle, American history, and im......more

Goodreads review by Read By RodKelly on August 04, 2018

Land of Love and Drowning is a novel set in the beautiful US Virgin Islands, filled with lilting, poetic sentences, wonderful metaphors and descriptions. However, the lush, lyrical writing does nothing to save a plot that is convoluted and ill-conceived at best. The characters in this family saga ar......more

Goodreads review by Melissa on August 01, 2014

This book stumped me. It’s a bit of an anomaly – a highly literary novel, a fable-come-to-life, a political commentary, a family saga, a love story. Frankly, I just don’t know what to make of it. What compelled me to continue reading was the brilliance I saw in the author’s ability to write in metaph......more

Goodreads review by Beverly on October 23, 2014

This was a 3.5 read for me but rounded up because of the author's unique approach to the storyline. A sumptuous tale of two sisters and their half-brother entangled by magic, myth, and the pull of memory tinged with illicit love set in the Virgin Islands. This intergenerational tale covers the years......more