The Island of Forgetting

A Novel

By: Jasmine Sealy

Narrated by: Varia Williams

WINNER of the Amazon First Novel Award

Finalist for the Kobo Emerging Writer Award

Finalist for OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

Shortlisted for the Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society Awards

How does memory become myth? How do lies become family lore? How do we escape the trauma of the past when the truth has been forgotten?

Barbados, 1962. Lost soul Iapetus roams the island, scared and alone, driven mad after witnessing his father’s death at the hands of his mother and his older brother, Cronus. Just before Iapetus is lost forever, he has a son, but the baby is not enough to save him from himself—or his family’s secrets.

Seventeen years later, Iapetus’s son, the stoic Atlas, lives in a loveless house, under the care of his uncle, Cronus, and in the shadow of his charismatic cousin Z. Knowing little about the tragic circumstances of his father’s life, Atlas must choose between his desire to flee the island and his loyalty to the uncle who raised him.

Time passes. Atlas’s daughter, Calypso, is a beautiful and wilful teenager who is desperate to avoid being trapped in a life of drudgery at her uncle Z’s hotel. When she falls dangerously in love with a visiting real estate developer, she finds herself entangled in her uncle’s shady dealings, a pawn in the games of the powerful men around her.

It is now 2019. Calypso’s son, Nautilus, is on a path of self-destruction as he grapples with his fatherless condition, his mixed-race identity and his complicated feelings of attraction towards his best friend, Daniel. Then one night, after making an impulsive decision, Nautilus finds himself exiled to Canada.

The Island of Forgetting is an intimate saga spanning four generations of one family who run a beachfront hotel. Loosely inspired by Greek mythology, this is a novel about the echo of deep—and sometimes tragic—love and the ways a family’s past can haunt its future.

Very good

Loved it, loved the story following an entire generation, I didn’t get lost or bored . Job well done. I can see this being a Caribbean staple

Hits all the emotions and exposes generational cycles

Engaging and dynamic. Dramatic irony keeps you feeling like you understand characters better than they understand themselves as the story flows through generations, following one character’s perspective per generation. It’s the kind of novel that makes you empathetic to your parents and their struggles which you don’t know, and simultaneously aware of your responsibilities to future generations in your family.

If you’re looking to get deep into a story that pivots at just the right times to keep you wanting more, without emotional destruction in the process, The Island of Forgetting is an enjoyable journey.

Lots of love and references to Barbados (with relatively little fictionalization) throughout makes it especially fun for those who pick up the cultural Easter eggs.

authentic narration

It was a pleasure to hear the authentic Barbadian narration. A multigenerational saga with many plot twists .

Must Read.

This book is a modern masterpiece in Caribbean literature. Wonderfully told with a unique perspective on Caribbean life. Even if you have no attachment to the place the characters are so complex you can’t help but need to learn more about them. Definitely a must read.

I live for stories from the islands. The love and draw for “home” no matter the cost stood out to me.

Loved how you slowly get to learn each character and the way the author introduces them.