The Sun, The Sea, A Touch of the Wind (original) (raw)
The time is the 1970s. Jonnie Dash is an orphan, survivor of Harlem's gritty streets, ex-factory worker, and finally, a successful and recognized African-American artist. Now, fleeing from a brush with madness, Jonnie finds herself in Haiti. Encamping in the Old Hotel outside Port au Prince, Jonnie is seduced by the overwhelming beauty of the place. She finds a bond between the fierce inner struggles of her own past and the ever-active struggles of the once enslaved island nation. Most of all, she seeks some trace of fire from an old dream, in the shimmering form of a man who had once been her lover and her mentor.
Jonnie, however, finds herself an outsider in several ironic and unexpected ways. She is the only black guest at her fashionable hotel. To the native Haitians, her independence, outspokenness, and natural hairstyle earn her the sobriquet la blanche aux cheveux frisées, "the white woman with the kinky hair." Savaged by a personal crisis even more terrifying than the one she had escaped, the alienated and confused Jonnie plunges into tempestuous rounds of drinking and sex. Ultimately, a child who desperately appeals to her for help--and who holds the key to the redemption of a loss once thought hopelessly irretrievable--helps take Jonnie beyond fear and past her demons to a wholeness of spirit that mere youth can never know.
The Sun, the Sea, a Touch of the Wind vividly invokes the beauty and culture of the Caribbean, as well as a fascinating and complex Africa-American woman's struggle to define herself and her relation to the world around her.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 1995
About the author
Rosa Cuthbert Guy (1925-2012) was an American writer.
Born in Trinidad, Rosa Guy moved to the United States with her family at the age of seven, where they settled in New York in 1932. Soon after, her parents, Henry and Audrey Cuthbert, died. After, she and her sister went to many foster homes. She quit school at age fourteen and took a job to help support her family.
During World War II she joined the American Negro Theatre. She studied theatre and writing at the University of New York.
Guy wrote a number of books aimed at young adults. Many of her books reflect on the dependability of family members who love and care for one other. Her works include: Bird at My Window (1966), Children of Longing (1971), The Friends (1973), Ruby (1976), Edith Jackson (1978), The Disappearance (1979), Mirror of Her Own (1981), A Measure of Time (1983), and New Guys Around the Block (1983), Paris, Pee Wee and Big Dog (1984), My Love, My Love, or the Peasant Girl (1985), And I Heard a Bird Sing (1987).
She is divorced from Warner Guy, with whom she had a son, Warner Guy Jr.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Hmmm...I think the most interesting and strongest aspect of this book is the character-writing. The main character is really emotionally unstable because of trauma and so she's written with mood swings all over the place. Her relations with people are all over the place - she can like people and dislike them in 5 minutes. I think it's a really insightful look into how people react to trauma.
Johnnie Dash is an accurate name for her because of how she reacts to trauma. The character really makes a journey in the end, facing something in the end. Her decision at the end surprised me, but I think I like it.
Sometimes the plot was a little hard to follow, there are some non-linear aspects of writing, but in the end it was clear.
It was also a really good look at people interacting between the African Diaspora. There were a lot of voices in this book.
I gave it three stars on the first read but I have a feeling that if I re-read it and sat down with it in class or something, I'd bump that up. This is definitely not a "relax at the beach" book, this is a book that requires analysis and emotional involvement.
Trigger Warnings like whoa:
There is a lot of child abuse mentioned, including sexual child abuse, both past and present.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews