One Woman’s Island
by Susan M. Toy
If you are presently on Bequia and would like to purchase a print edition of Island in the Clouds or One Woman’s Island please phone: 457-3382.
Print Edition: Amazon US and Canada, UK, France, Germany
The print edition is now available online at Chapters/Indigo.
eBook Formats:
Apple’s iBookstore/iTunes: Apple Canada
Overdrive (for Libraries)
Available to borrow from Calgary Public Library! (And included in their One Woman’s Island list of the literary realm of female talent, as well as the Edible Stories list..)
Available to borrow in print from the Mississauga Library System!
Listed on Goodreads
Running away from Canada, Maraina hopes to forget a failed marriage and the death of her husband by embarking on a whole new life. She moves lock, stock, and two cats to the small Caribbean island of Bequia. But the move brings more than she could have imagined. New friends ask her to help solve a recent murder in the expat community. And then there’s the problem of her neighbours, a young woman and her children. Seemingly abandoned by family and friends, Mariana believes they need her help! By becoming involved, Mariana is carried along from wanting to simply “live with the locals” to being overwhelmed by their culture, one so vastly different to what she had left behind in Canada that she doesn’t know who among her expat friends she can turn to for advice. So she carries on regardless and discovers that Bequia isn’t exactly the tropical paradise it had promised to be.
One Woman’s Island is the second novel in the Bequia Perspectives series that picks up again a few months in time after the first novel, Island in the Clouds.
When reading One Woman’s Island, remember to keep your fork …
because there’s pie at the end!
One Woman’s Island beautifully captures the spirit of being on the island of Bequia. The author’s ear for local dialogue is faultless. Besides its lush and exotic setting, however, the book accurately and with pathos reflects the end of an unsatisfactory marriage for main character Mariana who is constantly searching for something meaningful to take its place. She takes a young girl Verity and her two children under her wing, and hears about her folly in no uncertain terms from one of the die-hard ex-pats who lives there. With its complex characters, fast-moving plot, authentic setting and the underlying seriousness of the questions it so skillfully raises, One Woman’s Island, is a book that should garner a wide readership, one far larger than those who are familiar with Bequia. ~ Felicity Harley, author of The Burning Years
Great news, Susan Toy fans! The long-awaited sequel to her acclaimed novel, Island in the Clouds, has finally arrived. With a sharp eye for description and a well-tuned ear for dialogue (and local dialect!) Toy tells how a recently widowed Canadian woman moves to the tiny Caribbean island of Bequia to find solace, only to discover it’s not quite the paradise she hoped for. A tasty meal of storytelling that comes with complementary recipes! – Brian Brennan, Postmedia newspapers best-selling author
I heartily recommend this novel that takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride through gorgeous landscapes and a unique though often frustrating culture in a story that seldom lets the reader rest and never lets the reader down. Humour, suspense, a thoroughly satisfying narrator—and yes recipes, several of which I can’t wait to try—combine to make this another well-executed work by a skilled craftsperson. ~ David A. Poulsen, author of mystery novels, books for teens, co-author of a cookbook, actor, and award-winning Rodeo Announcer
Susan Toy’s new novel One Woman’s Island is: lively; startling; creepy; funny; shocking; sad; insightful – and engaging from start to finish. ~ Ann Ireland, prize-winning author of novels, A Certain Mr. Takahashi, The Instructor, Exile and The Blue Guitar
Featured on:
An early promotion on Susan Holmes‘ blog, Waterside Kennels: For the Love of Island Dogs, featuring art by Anna Landry, and twice more, here and here.
About those recipes in the book …
Kevin Brennan‘s blog, What the Hell: Susan Toy’s new one is here
Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord Autumn Reading – One Woman’s Island by Susan M. Toy and a review on Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore Christmas Update – Susan M. Toy, Marcia Meara and Toni Pike
A fabuloso review from author, and friend, Betty Jane Hegerat!
Reviewed by D. Erkelens on reading recommendations reviewed and by Sally Cronin and others.
Philospher Mouse of the Hedge recommends both Bequia Perspectives novels in her blog post, Wind in her hair. Departing wishes
Tricia Drammeh reviews on her blog, Authors To Watch
An interview with MM Jaye on her blog about my WIP at the time, One Woman’s Island.
An interview with Loes M. on her blog, Owlish Books … Interview with: Susan Toy
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