Island

by Johanna Skibsgrud

I heard about this book on Facebook and thought it would be interesting.

The author takes on a big task, a modern retelling or homage to Heart of Darkness by Conrad.  As soon as one take's on a classic the reader has high expectations.  I had high expectations but found the book very disappointing, uninteresting.

The story is about an island, originally settled by white plantation owners who brought in coloured workers/slaves to work on the crops.  At some time atomic bombs are set off in the vicinity or on the island and all islanders are removed to the "mainland".  Sometime later the "native" islanders demanded to be able to return to the island and they were allowed to do so.  The islanders are very poor and there is a definite difference in wealth and status between whites and blacks.  The island doesn't have much going for it.  The people were promised that a station (underground sea cable facility) would offer jobs but most people who come to work there come from the mainland.  Only a few guard-type duties are given to the locals.

The book revolves around two female characters.

One is a young diplomat whose husband and daughter have left the island  because of racial bullying the daughter suffered at school.  It is the diplomat's last day on the island.

The second woman is a young islander who has been enticed to join a cause to gain independence for the island by a woman Kurtz(same name as Conrad book).  Part way through the book she is warned that Kurtz is not who she says she is.  We later find out she was a diplomat who went rogue.

The fighters invade the embassy, kill one of the staff and tie up the diplomat who later tells them where some important maps are stored in the building.  She is able to get a message off to the mainland at the start of the attack by the fighters.

At the end of the book it is apparent that forces from the mainland are landing, the fighters did not really have a good plan to take over.

The only good thing about the book was that the author brought up the issue of colonial pasts and the damage/anger they have caused in the racial minorities they have controlled.  With the Black Lives Matter and the tearing down of statutes and removal of confederate flags in the U.S.  the topic is very timely.  The one good idea the author has is that the fighters cannot just take over and do what their overlords have done.  They have to come up with new ways of thinking, behaving, managing. etc.

Very disappointed in the book. It could have been a lot more interesting.  I recall how much I enjoyed the book Bel Canto by Patchett, about the kidnapping of a Japanese business tycoon in South America. The story, the action, the interaction of the characters was much more engaging and powerful.