Why a Booktrail?
1995: A magical realism novel set in Hawai’i
Sharks in the Time of Saviours
What you need to know before your trail
In 1995 in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores is saved from drowning by a shiver of sharks. His family, struggling to make ends meet amidst the collapse of the sugar cane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favour from ancient Hawaiian gods. But as time passes, this hope gives way to economic realities, forcing Nainoa and his siblings to seek salvation across the continental United States, leaving behind home and family. With a profound command of language, Washburn’s powerful debut novel examines what it means to be both of a place, and a stranger in it.
Locations
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Welcome to Hawai’i BookTrail style and Sharks in the time of Saviours
This is a magical setting, a novel of magical realism and this is the magical language used to describe it.
Kailua-Kona
Small stone walls and swerving sidewalks fronting the scoops of sugary beach and luminous ocean than all the little storefront tourist traps, leading back like breadcrumbs to the beach hotels.
Waipi’o Valley
A deep cleft of wild green split with a river silver-brown and glassy, then a wide black sand beach slipping into the frothing Pacific
Marmane Street
‘Both sides covered in low wood buildings from the first days of cane, front doors repainted but inside still the same old bones. The faded auto-mechanic garages, the pharmacy with the same deals always on the windows, the grocery store. Our rented house on the edge of town with its layers of stripping paint and cramped bare rooms, shower stall patched onto the back of the garage.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Sharks in the Time of Saviours
Destination/location: Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i Author/guide: Kawai Strong Washburn Departure Time: 1995
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