Florida Keys, 1935. The people of Heron Bay still remember the Flu of 1918, the Veterans from the first World War are shunned, and racial tensions are very high in this small beachside town. And that is a normal day. Now add a brutal attack on a white woman, a deputy who hits his unfaithful wife, a young black nanny with not a single hope for her future except the love she has for the precious white baby boy she tends, and a storm on the way. A BIG storm.
Now, we have ourselves a story and a half.
Pretty simply written, this novel takes no prisoners (yep, that's a pun) when it comes to describing emotional tension, the despicable treatment of black people by whites, the daily horror of abuse both mental and physical, and the apocalyptic destruction that a hurricane can bring. The author has done her research. Each character she brings to life is fleshed out nicely, and there are a lot of characters here. Henry is a black veteran who has finally come home on a Veterans program to build a bridge. He was treated as an equal during his time as a soldier in France; now he is hurt and confused by how little has changed back home and how the veterans are relegated to an inadequate and miserable campsite to live. Missy has waited 18 long years for Henry to come back from war, putting her life on hold for the sake of hope. The Deputy's wife is caught in an affair only by giving birth to a mulatto baby. And former beauty queen and Daddy's girl Hilda has lost her beauty under the disgusted eye of her egotistical husband. We get a glimpse into several other families' lives in the days before a category 5 Hurricane hit the Keys with 185 mph winds. Having lived through a few Hurricanes in my life, the description here of what actually happened is just surreal, and very well done.
Now, it sounds like this book is all doom and gloom - it is not! Obviously there will be loss of life among the characters; but it is the relationships that stand out. I was interested in how it would all end of course, but also interested in what motivated these people. What would you sacrifice for others in the midst of disaster? What (or who) would you go back to save? What is the limit of our endurance in the face of an extreme life event (as questioned in the back of the book)? And what is our relationship to food? This is a story set in the South after all, during a Labor Day picnic, and it is interesting to see how traditional foods (and one lemon cake) are so important! And really, what does make us human?? (Another question at the end of this book.)
Today is April 1, 2020. We are not quite at the peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic where I live. These questions really hit home to me in light of our current "extreme life event." We wonder what life will be like after all this is over, or if it ever will be over. Will people continue to reach out to others? Will we be more appreciative of what we have and less worried about what we want? Will we love each other better because of this shared experience? Or will we just go back to the way we always do things?? There is a Epilogue to this story that gives some hope. And right now we could all use some hope!
Stay well. Keep reading. Have Hope.
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