title: He Drown She in the Sea: A Novel
author:  Shani Mootoo 
description: The fictional island of Guanagaspar is again Mootoo's primary setting in his second novel, and, like <i>Cereus Blooms at Night</i>, the story is rich in the patois and daily rhythms of the Caribbean. Half-caste Harry St. George and his childhood love, Rose, the daughter of his mother's employer, are driven apart by the island's systemic patriarchy and racism, while also shaped by its simple beauty and languorous charms. Decades after their forced separation, Harry has made a good life for himself in British Columbia, but he can't forget his homeland or Rose. One of Mootoo's real accomplishments is his portrayal of the expatriate Harry. A quiet and unassuming man who takes pride in his seaside house and landscaping work, Harry socializes infrequently and dates with shy ineptitude. He is constrained by longing and memories of Rose, but remains stoic, accepting his condition even as it continues to torment him. Meanwhile, Rose still lives in Guanagaspar, married to the powerful attorney general of the island. She lives like a minor celebrity, but her life is not fulfilling. She begins to feel that Harry was the only one to ever look past her beauty and see her real self. Rose's daughter, now residing in Vancouver, provides a ready excuse for her to travel to Canada and reconnect with Harry. The trip itself, like much of the novel, is recounted in snippets and flashbacks, from many points of view, which gives the tale a fine-grained, beautifully textured finish. <i>Agent, Maria Massie. (May)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  **He Drown She in the Sea**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Praise for _He Drown She in the Sea:_
  
  
  “A poignant, sophisticated and troubling portrait of how class, race and
  ethnicity determine mobility and fortune on an island much like her native
  Trinidad, and how the insecurities of social standing are communicated,
  reinforced and deeply internalized in the individual and collective psyches …
  Mootoo works the fine balance between despondency and hope to tremendous
  effect, infusing the story with yearning, melancholy and bittersweet promise
  fuelled by the suspense of whether liberation and redemption from class and
  past is ultimately achievable.”
  
  
  —Camilla Gibb, _National Post_ (Ontario)
  
  
  “The story is rich in the patois and daily rhythms of the Caribbean. … One of
  Mootoo’s real accomplishments is her portrayal of the expatriate Harry. … Much
  of the novel is recounted in snippets and flashbacks, from many points of
  view, which gives the tale a fine-grained, beautifully text