The World So Wide - by Zilla Jones (Paperback)
About this item
Highlights
- Felicity Alexander should be charming audiences at New York's Metropolitan Opera, not under house arrest in Grenada in October 1983, as rumours swirl that United States troops are preparing to invade.
- Author(s): Zilla Jones
- 414 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, African American
Description
About the Book
Grenada, 1983. Opera star Felicity returns to her mother's homeland to perform a benefit recital and reconnect with a past lover, but when an armed coup traps her under house arrest with her estranged friends in the revolutionary government, she reflects on her life as she navigates political tensions to survive.Book Synopsis
Felicity Alexander should be charming audiences at New York's Metropolitan Opera, not under house arrest in Grenada in October 1983, as rumours swirl that United States troops are preparing to invade.
Born and raised in Winnipeg, the daughter of a Grenadian woman and an absent white father, Felicity is blessed with enviable beauty and an extraordinary singing voice. Arriving in London to study opera in 1965, she finds early success and joy on stage, as well as a sense of belonging in the arms of the charming Claude Buckingham. Members of the West Indian Students Association, Claude and his friends are law students and activists. They plan to return to Grenada to overthrow the corrupt dictator, "Uncle" Percy Tibbs.
Felicity and Claude's intense affair cannot survive their diverging destinies. Claude brings revolution to Grenada and becomes a minister in the new Black Pearls of Freedom government; Felicity devotes herself to music, conquering the racism and sexism of the opera world to rise to international stardom. The brighter she shines, the more she struggles to find her place and purpose in life.
Her career in ascendance, Felicity accepts an invitation to perform in Grenada. The red sky of revolution calls to her almost as much as the hope of Claude's embrace. But their reunion is interrupted by a coup. Surrounded by soldiers and guns, Felicity's voice is born anew.
Review Quotes
"The World So Wide combines a story of lost love with a political revolution in Grenada."
--Amy Wilson "Novels Alive""Jones has created a vibrant, memorable character whose confidence in her own talent has accompanied her through every misfortune and whose inner strength endures."--Stacey May Fowles "The Literary Review of Canada"
"Fascinating ... A woman returns to her roots in Zilla Jones's entrancing historical novel The World So Wide, about lost love amid a revolution."--Karen Rigby "Foreword Reviews"