Island Beneath the Sea audiobook

This is $1.99 kindle special again today- I still own this book - loved it - packed filled with drama ...I'm reading Isabel Allende's new book right now - "In The Mist of Winter", not released yet -- and it's TERRIFIC...save your pennies for it! Or get your name on the waitlist at the library. Older ... tiny comment: I just bought this book yesterday. It looks fantastic! I LOVE Isabel Allende. I like her fiction and non-fiction books.I'm also so excited....she will be speaking at a darling book store in Mt. View tonight. I hope I get a front row seat! elyseThis book is EXCELLENT!!! The best book I have read all year!!!

3.5 stars, rounded upIsland Beneath the Sea is an epic historical saga, following the lives of slave Tété and her master Valmorain. The story begins on the island of Saint Domingue (modern day Haiti) and follows the pair through a slave uprising and onwards to exile in New Orleans. Allende’s storytelling is wonderful and she really transports the reader to the geographical and historical setting. I enjoyed the first part of the book, set in Haiti, more than the second part set in New Orleans, which was a little slow going at times. The story is mostly told by a third person narrator but there are occasional sections (printed in italics) told in the first person from Tété’s point of view. I wasn’t entirely sure that they added anything to the story, so I was a little baffled by their inclusion.Overall, I found this an engaging read and I thought that Allende’s female characters in particular were wonderfully drawn. This is the first Allende book I have read but I am sure it won’t be the last.

I am absolutely in love with Isabel Allende's writing. When I read "The House of Spirits" I was captivated with how she is able to captivate her readers. She continues her magical writing with "Island Beneath The Sea". In Island Beneath The Sea we are taken to 1770 on the island of Saint Domingue (Haiti) where we meet Zarite, who is a slave on the island. We also meet French, Toulouse Valmorain who arrives on the island to run his father's plantation. Of course, Toulouse Valmorain, new to the island isn't prepared for all the troubles that comes with being on an island, especially during the time when Haiti is changing. Both Valmorain and Zarite's worlds meets and from there we are taken up into a sweeping saga that continues for over a century. Honestly, Isabel Allende can do no wrong. I was reading this book hoping it wouldn't end, but wanting to know what the end will be like....that's how good it was. If you are looking for an amazing read set in the Caribbean during the 1770, this is it. You will not only read about great characters but get a history lesson on how Saint Domingue transformed to Haiti. What I also loved was getting a look into life in the Caribbean during that time.An amazing read that I highly recommend!

Nunca esquecerei Tété...Tanto sofrimento e ainda assim esta história resulta num livro maravilho e inesquecível.Mais uma vez, totalmente conquistada por Isabel Allende.

Audiobook performed by S. Epatha Merkerson.In a bit of a departure from her usual emphasis on Hispano-American history, Allende gives us a story of an 18th-century slave in French-occupied Saint-Domingue (later to become Haiti). We follow Zarité from her childhood through age forty, from Guinea to Saint-Domingue to Cuba and on to New Orleans. Allende populates the novel with a wide variety of characters: Zarité’s French master and plantation owner Toulouse Valmorain; the free quadroon Violette Boisier who entertains a wide variety of gentlemen callers, chiefly Valmorain and the French military officer Etienne Relais; Valmorain’s Cuban wife Eugenia Garcia de Solars who is mother to his heir, Maurice; the local doctor Parmentier who is married to a mulatta woman Adele but keeps a separate house from that of his family; and a host of other characters too numerous to mention specifically. Allende is more than up to the task of relating the historical events that frame this family drama. The time frame of the novel is 1770 to 1810, and we witness the slave rebellion that results in the French abandoning Saint-Domingue to the rebel leaders who will ultimately name it Haiti. As the French leave their plantations and the island for safe haven they migrate to the French colony in New Orleans. But just as they feel settled, Napoleon sells a large tract of land to the United States in what we know as the Louisiana Purchase. Against this backdrop of national and international upheaval, we have the family drama of Valmorain, his slave, Zarité, and their children. I loved Zarité. She’s intelligent, resourceful, courageous, adaptable and wily. A keen observer and a good judge of character, she makes alliances and bides her time, acting when it is most advantageous to her and her family. And she needs every bit of these skills to navigate the dangerous relationships with Valmorain's two wives: the mentally unstable Eugenia, and the cruel Hortense. Violette is also a richly drawn character – willful, intelligent, confident, loyal and loving. She has made the best of her situation and with the aid of her loyal servant Loula she will ensure the success of her family and those she holds dear. None of the men in her life are a match for her. S. Epatha Merkerson does a fantastic job of voicing the audiobook. She gives each character a sufficiently unique voice that it is easy to follow the dialogue. But I particularly love the way in which she brings Zarité and Violette to life. These are two strong women, and Merkerson excels in interpreting their characters.