The Coconut Latitudes - by Rita M Gardner (Paperback)

About the Book

A father makes the fateful decision to leave a successful career in the US behind and move to an isolated beach in the Dominican Republic. He plants ten thousand coconut seedlings, transplants his wife and two young daughters to a small village, and declares they are the luckiest people alive. In reality, the family is in the path of hurricanes and in the grip of a brutal dictator, Rafael Trujillo--and the children are additionally under the thumb of an increasingly volatile and alcoholic father. Set against a backdrop of shimmering palms and kaleidoscope sunsets, The Coconut Latitudes is Rita Gardner's compelling memoir of a childhood in paradise, a journey into unexpected misery, and a twisted path to redemption and truth.

Book Synopsis

Gold Medal Winner, Autobiography/Memoir, 2015 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards. Rita is an infant when her father leaves a successful career in the US to live in "paradise"--a seaside village in the Dominican Republic. The Coconut Latitudes is her haunting, lyrical memoir of surviving a reality far from the envisioned Eden--and of the terrible cost of keeping secrets.

Review Quotes

"Gardner has written a rich, haunting book that vividly captures her childhood and makes everyday turmoil vital through precise and honest prose."
--Publishers Weekly, July 2014

"Another fine writer we can embrace as ours: an honorary Dominicana, who moves beyond borders into the wide open spaces of the heart."
--Julia Alvarez, author of A Wedding in Haiti, Recipient, 2013 National Medal of Arts

"Gardner's memoir is a detailed delight. A kind of 'island-mindedness' in her writing makes this a compelling read."
--Alastair Reid, Correspondent for The New Yorker, author of Inside Out

"In this riveting coming-of-age story, Gardner paints an exquisite portrait of her family's rupture in paradise."
--Julia Scheeres, author of Jesus Land and A Thousand Lives