This is a historical, profound, and emotional novel from one of the best pens of our time. The theme centers around the idea of man against man while fighting for survival with love and self-respect. There are many fantastic and complex characters in the story, and each one is brilliantly portrayed. In the telling of the story, voodoo, medicine, history, and the mores for or against slavery play important roles.

The events take place around the eighteenth century slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue, today’s Haiti, which was a French colony and in New Orleans. Inside the historical setting, the core story tells the struggles and success of the slave Zarité (Tete for short), the protagonist against a misled culture, and the antagonist Toulouse Valmorain, the slave owner. Both the protagonist and the antagonist have their allies while they fight against each other and the understanding of their time.

Valmorain, although a pretty decent man at first who read and believed in Jean Jacques Rousseau, had to fight to preserve the family sugar plantation in Saint Domingue to keep his family members and his family name afloat. This conflict brings forth the contradictions inside his character, like greed, vanity, and self-deception. Toulouse buys Tete as his first wife’s attendant. After he rapes, beats, and takes her child away from Tete, he says he always treated her well and he believes what he says himself.

During the uprising, the city of Le Cap is burned down and Toulouse and Tete barely run away their lives. Actually, it is Tete who saves Toulouse Valmorain’s life. After that most of the characters flee to New Orleans and continue their lives there. Tete manages to stand up for her rights against all odds and she gains her freedom. The plot, then, wraps up with some unusual twists and turns.

the enjoyment of literary writing that can also be highly exciting. From this type of a book one can learn how to write a captivating, historical novel, which can be considered an epic.

The passages told by Zarite, as they offer simple though lyrical, imaginative, rhythmical, and flowing language.

like I can hardly wait for Isabel Allende's next book.

Isabel Allende is a Chilean-American writer who lives in San Rafael, California. Among her countless awards is the Gabriela Mistral Order of Merit (1994). She is the first woman to receive this honor.
Her other books are: The House of the Spirits, The Porcelain Fat Lady,Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna, The Stories of Eva Luna, The Infinite Plan, Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses, Daughter of Fortune, P{ortrait in Sepia, City of Beasts, My Invented Country, Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, Zorro, Forest of the Pygmies, and Ines of My Soul.

the storytelling is spectacular and (IMHO)it is comparable to all the greats like the Tale of Two Cities and War and Peace.
The story is wonderfully rich with fascinating characters and correct historical data. (I checked it, too. )

I am partial to Isabel Allende's work. I read everything she writes. So, if you decide to read the book, make up your own mind and never mind my slobbering over her talent.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Island Beneath the Sea: A Novel   from Amazon.Com!

Created Mar 03, 2011 at 12:44pm • Submit your own review...