Island Beneath the Sea, A Novel by Isabel Allende

Island Beneath the Sea, A Novel by Isabel Allende*

“Allende is a master storyteller at the peak of her powers.”
— Los Angeles Times

From the sugar plantations of Saint-Domingue to the lavish parlors of New Orleans at the turn of the 19th century, the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende (Inés of My Soul, The House of the Spirits, Portrait in Sepia) tells the story of a mulatta woman, a slave and concubine, determined to take control of her own destiny.

Book Description
Born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue, Zarité -- known as Tété -- 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, Tété finds solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and in 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 baggage and dreams of financial success in his mind. But running his father’s plantation, Saint Lazare, is neither glamorous nor easy. It will be eight years before he brings home a bride -- but marriage, too, proves more difficult than he imagined. And Valmorain remains dependent on the services of his teenaged slave.

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

Critical Praise for Island Beneath the Sea

“Island Beneath the Sea is a seductive, intoxicating saga. It starts with slavery, forbidden relationships and rebellion in Haiti, and expands to include struggles over secret children, racial castes and family heirs in Louisiana. Isabel Allende’s latest novel is sweeping, provocative and impossible to put down.”
-- Lawrence Hill, author of The Book of Negroes

“[An] entertaining sweep...The canvas contains no less than the revolutionary history of the world’s first black republic...Allende revels in period details...Her cast is equally vibrant...”
— New York Times Book Review

“Exuberant passions, strong heroines and intricate plots...a world as enchanted--and enchanting--as it is brutal and unjust... A page-turning drama.”

— San Francisco Chronicle

“Enthralling, blood-chilling, and heart-breaking…ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA is a historical novel which works brilliantly in conveying the cyclone that was the eighteenth century.”
— The Huffington Post

“…with gorgeous place descriptions, a keen eye for history and a predilection for high drama…There are few more charming storytellers in the world than Isabel Allende.”

— NPR.org NPR.org

“Timely and absorbing…filled with adventure, vivid characters, and richly detailed descriptions of life in the Caribbean”

— Library Journal

“A lush epic of racism and rebellion which begins in Saint-Domingue (today’s Haiti)…In a culture of violence, Tété proves that ingenuity can be as heroic as love.”
— Cathleen Medwick, More magazine

“Epic scope and sweep…[Allende’s] characters, linked by blood, love triangles and even incest, have a depth and complexity that…imbues the proceedings with a lushness bordering on magic realism.”
— Associated Press

“Two remarkable women whose destinies are entwined face the chaos of this time [eighteenth century Saint-Domingue]…Uncannily relevant.”
— Corrie Pikul, Elle

“A remarkable feat of prescience…ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA is rich in drama, setting, themes, characters, dialogue and symbolism…an intriguing and wonderfully woven story.”

— San Antonio Express-News

An entrancing and astute storyteller…In a many-faceted plot, Allende animates irresistible characters authentic in their emotional turmoil and pragmatic adaptability…while masterfully dramatizing the psychic wounds of slavery.”
— Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)

*Isabel Allende
Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of many bestselling novels, including, most recently, Ines of My Soul , Zorro, Portrait in Sepia, and Daughter of Fortune. She has also written a collection of stories; three memoirs, The Sum of Our Days, My Invented Country, and Paula ; and a trilogy of young adult novels.

  Awards and Honors

Gabriela Mistral Order of Merit, 1994

Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, 1998

Read About Me Literary Award, 1996

Freedom to Write Pen Club Award, 1991

Books to Remember Award, American Library Association, 1996

http://www.harpercollins.com/book/index.aspx?isbn=9780061988240