Land of Love and Drowning

Starred review from May 5, 2014
For her debut novel, Yanique (author of the story collection How to Escape from a Leper Colony) has written an epic multigenerational tale set in the U.S. Virgin Islands that traces the ambivalent history of its inhabitants during the course of the 20th century. The story follows two sisters whose genteel prospects are shattered after the sudden death of their father, Owen Arthur Bradshaw, a descendent of West African slaves and owner of a cargo ship. Eeona, the older of the two, is a famous beauty who terrifies men with her radiance and high-caste pretensions, while her younger sister, Anette, is sensuous and passionate, holding on to her local dialect and identity. Ever recalling memories of her father, Eeona struggles to escape St. Thomas and achieve a measure of freedom. Anette, meanwhile, falls desperately in love with Jacob, who, unbeknownst to her, is actually her half-brother. The novel shows how global conflicts, including World War II, and America’s legacy of racism shape the lives of Jacob and other islanders. As Anette becomes a mother and Eeona becomes a spectral embodiment of the islands’ mystery, American tourism gradually upends the local economy and deprives the natives of land, beaches, and freedom. Amid the devastation of hurricanes and exploitation by wealthy American entrepreneurs, the sisters struggle to understand their history, their place in the modern world, and the fatal attraction of the islands’ magical beauty. Through the voices and lives of its native people, Yanique offers an affecting narrative of the Virgin Islands that pulses with life, vitality, and a haunting evocation of place.

Starred review from May 15, 2014
A debut novel traces the history of the U.S. Virgin Islands through the fate of a family marked by lust, magic and social change.Of the atoll where her parents met, Anette Bradshaw says: "You seen even a postcard of Anegada? It too pretty. Like heaven and hell marry up and birth all the beauty goodness and badness could possibly make." Anette's is one of four narrative voices in this novel by St. Thomas-born Yanique (How to Escape from a Leper Colony, 2010), which follows the story of the children and grandchildren of Capt. Owen Arthur Bradshaw, a man whose unchecked appetites cause trouble for a good half-century after his ship goes down. In alternating short chapters, we hear from a wise, playful third-person narrator and, in first person, from each of Bradshaws' three outlandishly beautiful children: Eeona, both his daughter and his lover; Anette, who never knew either of her parents before their untimely deaths; and Jacob, Bradshaw's unacknowledged son by a back-street mistress. Eeona becomes an imperious queen of a woman who never gets over her love for her father, refusing even the suit of a fellow who proposes 70-odd times; she moves to St. John and becomes entangled with a lost character from the family romantic tree. Half siblings Anette and Jacob are also ruled by incestuous passion, though they are unaware of their relationship, which is only partially derailed by Jacob's sojourns on the mainland for military service and medical school. Their story is interwoven with both the folklore and history of the island: backward-facing feet, silver pubic hair and a race of demigods called the Duene are sprinkled among scenes of development, hurricanes, tourism and the social movements of the 1960s and '70s.Bubbling with talent and ambition, this novel is a head-spinning Caribbean cocktail.

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February 1, 2014

A Rona Jaffe Writers' Award winner who, like Weil, was named a "5 Under 35" author by the National Book Foundation, Yanique follows up her story collection How To Escape from a Leper Colony with this debut novel. In the early 1900s, a ship sinks off the Virgin Islands just as they are being transferred from Danish to American rule, and two sisters and their half-brother are orphaned. Fortunately, each has a distinctive magical gift. A three-generation saga from an author born on St. Thomas, VI.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-The Virgin Islands is the main character in this debut novel. St. Thomas, like its inhabitants, comes of age after it transfers from Danish to American rule in the early 1900s. Distinctive multiple narrators tell the story of the wealthy Captain and his beautiful but "wild" wife, Antoinette; his daughters, Eeona and Anette; and his son Jacob, conceived with his mistress. When Bradshaw's ship sinks, taking the lives of his crew with him, the island and his family are changed forever. Eeona longs to escape the islands, Anette craves the security of a committed relationship, and Jacob falls in love with the wrong woman. History is reflected in their lives and times: when World War II breaks out, Jacob and his friends head to the mainland as soldiers only to face a racism that did not exist at home; the rise of civil rights on the mainland fuels a growing rebellion on St. Thomas. Mature themes weave throughout these stories, including sexuality and incest. Recommend to teens who enjoy strong characters, a tumultuous historical time period, and a setting that embraces music, madness, and Caribbean magic.-Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.