Cover of He Drown She in the Sea

He Drown She in the Sea

Set on the fictional Caribbean island of Guanagaspar around the time of the Second World War, and in modern-day Vancouver, He Drown She in the Sea,fulfills the promise of Shani Mootoo's internationally acclaimed debut novel, Cereus Blooms at Night.At the centre of the story is Harry St. George, the son of a laundress, and the unrequited love he bears for a woman, Rose, the daughter of a wealthy man, whom he knew as a child. Looking back to his past, evoking the rich culture and texture of his Caribbean boyhood, and the life of his mother, Dolly, Harry reveals his friendship with Rose, and the events that will continue to haunt him across time and place. When Rose arrives suddenly in Vancouver, where Harry has built a hard-earned life for himself, the two embark on an impossible affair that will have tragic consequences.

Read more

He Drown She in the Seais a vividly evoked, subtly described story of love, class division, and the unrelenting hold of the past, told by one of our most gifted writers. Shani Mootoo joins the front ranks of Carribean literature, in the company of Austin Clarke and Dionne Brand.

From the Hardcover edition.

Audience
adult
Length
medium · 336 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked He Drown She in the Sea? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked He Drown She in the Sea. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Bruised Hibiscus Shares Caribbean, fiction
  2. The Girl with The Golden Shoes Shares Caribbean, fiction
  3. For the Life of Laetitia Shares Caribbean, fiction
  4. No Language Is Neutral Shares canadian, Caribbean

“People who read He Drown She in the Sea tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Six Metres of Pavement
  2. How Come the Best Clues Are Always in the Garbage?
  3. Zia Summer
  4. Even this Page is White

“If you want more of the same, start with these.”

  1. At the Full and Change of the Moon
  2. The Heart Does Not Bend
  3. Guerrillas
  4. Brother Man

“If it was the Caribbean that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Wooing of Beppo Tate
  2. A Small Gathering of Bones
  3. The Duppy
  4. A Harlot's Progress

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912
  2. Magdalena
  3. Winter Journey
  4. All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age