Island Beneath the Sea - by Isabel Allende (Paperback)

About the Book

The daughter of an African mother she never knew and a white sailor, Zarit - known as Tt - was born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue. Growing up amid brutality and fear, Tt found solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and the mysteries of voodoo. Her life changes when twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770 to run his father's plantation, Saint Lazare. Overwhelmed by the challenges of his responsibilities and trapped in a painful marriage, Valmorain turns to his teenaged slave Tt, who becomes his most important confidant. The indelible bond they share will connect them across four tumultuous decades and ultimately define their lives.

Book Synopsis

"Allende is a master storyteller at the peak of her powers."--Los Angeles Times

The New York Times bestselling author of The House of the Spirits and A Long Petal of the Sea tells the story of one unforgettable woman--a slave and concubine determined to take control of her own destiny--in this sweeping historical novel that moves from the sugar plantations of Saint-Domingue to the lavish parlors of New Orleans at the turn of the ninteenth century.

The daughter of an African mother she never knew and a white sailor, Zarité--known as Tété--was born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue. Growing up amid brutality and fear, Tété found solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and the mysteries of voodoo.

Her life changes when twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770 to run his father's plantation, Saint Lazare. Overwhelmed by the challenges of his responsibilities and trapped in a painful marriage, Valmorain turns to his teenaged slave Tété, who becomes his most important confidant. The indelible bond they share will connect them across four tumultuous decades and ultimately define their lives.

Review Quotes

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)
"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
"Two remarkable women whose destinies are entwined face the chaos of this time [eighteenth century Saint-Domingue]. . . . Uncannily relevant." - Elle
"[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
"Searing. . . . Allende powerfully evokes the historical events that rocked the late eighteenth century. . . . The enthralling, blood-chilling, and heart-breaking story of Zarite connects the links between the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the revolt of the Haitian slaves led by Toussaint Louverture, the sale of Louisiana to the United States, and the rising influence of the Abolition movement. . . . Island Beneath the Sea is a historical novel that works brilliantly." - 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...Allende's portrait of New Orleans, in particular, is as vivid and beautiful as anything she's written in years. This is a worthy...addition to an already impressive body of work: fans of Allende and of historical novels in general will have a great time." - NPR.org
"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
"Entertaining. . . . 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. . . . In a welcome revision, Allende brings women to the forefront of the story of rebellion." - New York Times Book Review
"Exuberant passions, strong heroines and intricate plots . . . a world as enchanted--and enchanting--as it is brutal and unjust. . . . Allende propels the reader through great atrocities on the momentum of page-turning drama, and in so doing, creates a unique entry point into histories that deserve to be told." - San Francisco Chronicle
"An intriguing and wonderfully woven story...Island Beneath the Sea is rich in drama, setting, themes, characters, dialogue and symbolism." - San Antonio Express-News
"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
"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." - Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers
"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
"...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