He Drown She in the Sea

April 4, 2005
The fictional island of Guanagaspar is again Mootoo's primary setting in his second novel, and, like Cereus Blooms at Night
, the story is rich in the patois and daily rhythms of the Caribbean. Half-caste Harry St. George and his childhood love, Rose, the daughter of his mother's employer, are driven apart by the island's systemic patriarchy and racism, while also shaped by its simple beauty and languorous charms. Decades after their forced separation, Harry has made a good life for himself in British Columbia, but he can't forget his homeland or Rose. One of Mootoo's real accomplishments is his portrayal of the expatriate Harry. A quiet and unassuming man who takes pride in his seaside house and landscaping work, Harry socializes infrequently and dates with shy ineptitude. He is constrained by longing and memories of Rose, but remains stoic, accepting his condition even as it continues to torment him. Meanwhile, Rose still lives in Guanagaspar, married to the powerful attorney general of the island. She lives like a minor celebrity, but her life is not fulfilling. She begins to feel that Harry was the only one to ever look past her beauty and see her real self. Rose's daughter, now residing in Vancouver, provides a ready excuse for her to travel to Canada and reconnect with Harry. The trip itself, like much of the novel, is recounted in snippets and flashbacks, from many points of view, which gives the tale a fine-grained, beautifully textured finish. Agent, Maria Massie.

April 15, 2005
Moving from the warm, humid shores of a Caribbean island to the mountainous coast of British Columbia, this second novel from Mootoo ("Cereus Blooms at Night") weaves a mesmerizing tale of lifelong love, self-acceptance, and the barriers of social class. Harry St. George has loved Rose Sangha from the time they were children, when his mother was the laundress for the well-to-do Sangha family. But being from a poor fishing village, Harry is forced, time and again, to confront the seemingly insurmountable walls of the caste system. His mother tries to instill in him pride for who he is while teaching him to be realistic about the social prejudices of the island. Harry struggles with these truths as he grows up, eventually moving away to start a new life in British Columbia. But he never forgets Rose. When circumstances bring her and her husband to Canada, Rose and Harry reconnect, with life-altering consequences. Also a poet and painter, Mootoo writes with an eye for detail and magically transports the reader from one shore to the other, describing unerringly two different worlds and two different people connected by love and the power of the sea. Highly recommended. -Joy Humphrey, Pepperdine Univ. Law Lib., Malibu, CA

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