From Publishers Weekly
In 1908, Ramón Arnaud, a young Mexican military officer with a spotty record, is named governor of the small Pacific island of Clipperton—an isolated atoll originally dubbed "Isle of Passion" by Magellen. He, his young wife, Alicia, and a retinue of soldiers and their families—including assistant lieutenant Cardona, and his wife, Tirsa—establish a makeshift garrison and settlement, along with a small group of British guano miners. After several relatively idyllic months, Mexico's revolution and WWI leave them largely cut off from supplies and the world at large. When a powerful hurricane and tsunami wipe out most of the settlement, the group must band together to survive, and the disasters are only beginning. As a
Lord of the Flies mentality sets in, Alicia and Tirsa are left, or so they think, to lead the remaining women and children. Colombian novelist Restrepo (
The Dark Bride), basing the narrative on a true story, writes from the perspective of an unnamed journalist living in the present and trying to piece together the Clipperton mystery via conflicting reports and interviews with survivors. As translated by Koch, she pulls the various elements together with a clear, no-nonsense cartographer's precision, and the result is smooth sailing indeed, à la Jennifer Vanderbes's
Easter Island.
(Nov. 1) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Based on actual historical events, Restrepo's uneven sixth offering tells the tale of Ramon Arnaud, an early-twentieth-century army captain charged with defending the tiny Mexican atoll of Clipperton from French invasion. Disgraced by the label of deserter early in his military career, the half-Mexican, half-French soldier "with large, dreamy eyes and long, doll-like eyelashes" is determined to redeem himself. But with its treacherous weather and razor-sharp coral reefs, Clipperton (dubbed the "Isle of Passion" by Spanish explorer Magellan) challenges its newly appointed governor from the moment he arrives. Accompanied by 11 other soldiers and their families, Arnaud and his young bride Alicia survive--even thrive, for a time--until, amidst political power plays at home and the onset of the World War I, provisions cease to arrive. Colombia-born novelist, journalist, and political activist Restrepo (
The Dark Bride, 2002) renders a host of compelling characters (like Alicia, who displays consummate courage in the face of despair), but her prose is unpredictable--lively and luminous one moment, awkward and rambling the next.
Allison BlockCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
