CBR18 Bingo: Versus – Lots of conflict in this book – between the English and the Caribs and the Spanish, but also (with a strong Oedipal flavor) the conflict between father and son.
Finding himself out of favor with the king, Tom Warner and his young son embark for the New World, hoping to find their fortunes in rainy Guyana. But it turns out that they may lay instead in lush green St. Kitt’s – if they can manage to keep alive, of course.
About halfway through reading this book I found out that Tom and Edward Warner are real historical figures, though their stories have been condensed, sometimes rearranged, and flamboyantly embroidered in this highly colorful retelling.
There’s a reason the cover text compares this book to Mandingo – there’s tons of sex, violence, and horrible things happening. At the same time, the characters are complex and, if the writing is a little workman-like, you forget in as you get immersed in the twists and turns of the story. Nicole does an excellent job depicting the ambivalent feelings that the colonists have toward their venture on St. Kitt’s and their theft of the land from the Caribs. The atrocities committed by the historical Sir Thomas Warner are depicted without softening here.
Though all of Edward’s women (I hesitate to call them love interests) are all well-written and complicated in their own ways (once you make allowances for the inherent sexism of their depictions, quite typical of this kind of book), I did find myself at a loss as to what drew them to him, and should have liked some extra flavor of romance in their dealings. I was also surprised at where the book ends – what about the dramatic story of the conflict between Philip and his half-brother ‘Indian’ Warner? I wonder if it’s covered in a later book, perhaps.
