Beside the Burning Sea
Author: John Shors
Paperback: 448 pages(also available in Kindle and audiobook)
Publisher: NAL Trade (September 2, 2008)
Synposis:
One moment, the World War Two hospital ship Benevolence is patrolling the South Pacific on a mission of mercy. The next, it’s split in two by a torpedo. A small band of survivors, including an injured Japanese soldier and a young American nurse, makes it to the deserted shore of a nearby island, never expecting the experiences awaiting them.
Akira has suffered five years of bloodshed and horror fighting for the Japanese empire. Now, surrounded by enemies he is supposed to hate, he instead finds solace in their company—and rediscovers his love of poetry. While sharing the mystery and beauty of this passion with Annie, the captivating but troubled woman he rescued, Akira grapples with the pain of his past while helping Annie uncover the promise of her future. Meanwhile, the remaining castaways endure a world not of their making—a world as barbaric as it is beautiful, as hateful as it is loving, as forbidden as it is seductive.
Review:
A few months ago I put John Shors’ Dragon House on my list of TBR. Can’t remember when or where I learned about it but there it is—on my list. So what a weird twist when one of his earlier books, Beside a Burning Sea, found its way to the top of my reading pile. It was chosen for me in the way so many books given as gifts are: the giver remembered that I enjoyed history(it takes place during World War II) and they liked the cover!
I’m surprised to learn that Shors was never shipwrecked on a deserted island. His descriptions are so vivid I truly felt immersed in the beautiful, and at the same time unfriendly, new world where the survivors find themselves living. At first glance this book seems like a romantic adventure: couples in love, exotic locations, long languid days. But it reads like a thriller. Who is good? Who is evil? Who will die? Who will lead? Each chapter is one day of the group’s stay on the island and the questions that are constantly raised spur you to read on and on, never wanting to stop until you find out the answers. Of course early on you realize the answers will never be that black and white.
I am envious of Shors’ ability to combine the artistic beauty of virtue and haiku with the reality of guns and death on one small island and one small group of people. Shors not only tells the story of what happens but also explores the character’s prejudices and fears. Occassionally I found myself wanting to shout at the characters, “Why did you do that?” or shout at Shors, “How many Americans in the 1940’s would do that?” But overall his characters and story rang true and I enjoyed peeking inside the characters’ mind and hearts. Now his other books: Dragon House and Beneath a Marble Sky have stars next to them on my TBR list!
You can read Chapter One of Beside the Burning Sea on John Shors’ website .