Peter Gardner, a white scientist from England, is exiled after performing dangerous experiments on patients. He flees with his beautiful young daughter, Virginia, to the Caribbean, where he raises her in isolation among few people - all natives. One of those natives is Carlos, a young boy of mixed-race. Virginia and Carlos develop a forbidden friendship, which later blooms into a love that binds them above all cultural, racial, and paternal resistance. This is a touching love story, and a haunting coming-of-age tale.
This variation of THE TEMPEST is ingenious and ambitious, if often unconvincing. The amoral English doctor Peter Gardner (Prospero) is so entirely wicked that it's hard to believe his daughter, Virginia (Miranda), isn't heartily sick of him by the time he has stolen young black Carlos's (Caliban) house, regularly abused Ariana (Ariel) since she was 9, and falsely accused Carlos of raping Virginia. Set on an island off Trinidad in the '60s, the book and skillful reading by Simon Vance have much to admire, but I question the choice of a male narrator altogether. This book is not titled "Prospero", or "Caliban," or written by a William--and a female narrator might have given Virginia and Ariana more (and much needed) credibility. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Elizabeth Nunez is the author of four novels, including Discretion and Bruised Hibiscus, and winner of an American Book Award. Born in Trinidad, Nunez is a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York. She lives in Amityville, New York.
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