Betrayal on Aruba Winds
KIRKUS REVIEWS
TITLE INFORMATION
BETRAYAL ON ARUBA WINDS
Tracy Novinger
Morpho Publishing, Inc. (356 pp.)
$15.99 paperback, $6.99 e-book
ISBN: 978-1-983723-89-6; March 2, 2018
BETRAYAL ON ARUBA WINDS
Tracy Novinger
Morpho Publishing, Inc. (356 pp.)
$15.99 paperback, $6.99 e-book
ISBN: 978-1-983723-89-6; March 2, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
In this
novel, a businesswoman at a personal and professional crossroads discovers that
the secrets of her past may help her solve problems in her turbulent present.
At 31,
Alissia Aruba Saxton has a life that many would envy. She works for an import
company in the United States and has a devoted fiance named Tom. While she
places a premium on responsibility, she also yearns for the casual spontaneity
of Aruba, the island of her birth. Shortly before her wedding, she fights with
Tom, makes mistakes at work, and suffers from nightmares. Believing her present
problems are rooted in her past, she returns to Aruba, where she reconnects
with her mother’s dear friend Rika and recalls the people and places that
shaped her life. Her father, Stass, worked for the oil refinery, and her
mother, Nessa, was a housewife whose dreams of attending college were thwarted
by the high cost of education. Alissia was an observant child who spent much of
her time exploring the island with her friend Eddie Williams and observing the
men who worked with her father. However, her memories of the island also have a
dark side—one that comes into focus when she examines the lingering effects of
an assault and her role in a mysterious death. Novinger’s (Intercultural
Communication, 2001, etc.) novel is a sweeping historical epic that
explores themes of memory, guilt, and responsibility while introducing an
unforgettable heroine. Throughout, Alissia is haunted by one simple question:
“Is my paradise something I made up?” Her search leads to revelations that are
shocking and thought-provoking. The island setting plays an important part in
the novel, as well, and Novinger creates a richly detailed portrait of Aruba in
the 1940s and ’50s, highlighting aspects of everyday life and showing the
importance of the oil industry to the local economy.
A vivid
historical epic that’s expansive in scope yet intimate in focus.
BOOK REVIEW
In this
novel, a businesswoman at a personal and professional crossroads discovers that
the secrets of her past may help her solve problems in her turbulent present.
At 31,
Alissia Aruba Saxton has a life that many would envy. She works for an import
company in the United States and has a devoted fiance named Tom. While she
places a premium on responsibility, she also yearns for the casual spontaneity
of Aruba, the island of her birth. Shortly before her wedding, she fights with
Tom, makes mistakes at work, and suffers from nightmares. Believing her present
problems are rooted in her past, she returns to Aruba, where she reconnects
with her mother’s dear friend Rika and recalls the people and places that
shaped her life. Her father, Stass, worked for the oil refinery, and her
mother, Nessa, was a housewife whose dreams of attending college were thwarted
by the high cost of education. Alissia was an observant child who spent much of
her time exploring the island with her friend Eddie Williams and observing the
men who worked with her father. However, her memories of the island also have a
dark side—one that comes into focus when she examines the lingering effects of
an assault and her role in a mysterious death. Novinger’s (Intercultural
Communication, 2001, etc.) novel is a sweeping historical epic that
explores themes of memory, guilt, and responsibility while introducing an
unforgettable heroine. Throughout, Alissia is haunted by one simple question:
“Is my paradise something I made up?” Her search leads to revelations that are
shocking and thought-provoking. The island setting plays an important part in
the novel, as well, and Novinger creates a richly detailed portrait of Aruba in
the 1940s and ’50s, highlighting aspects of everyday life and showing the
importance of the oil industry to the local economy.
A vivid
historical epic that’s expansive in scope yet intimate in focus.
