{"product_id":"an-islandbooks","title":"An Island","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE - A\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\"powerful\" (\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e) novel about a lighthouse keeper with a mysterious past, and the stranger who washes up on his shores--the American debut of a major voice in world literature.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSamuel has lived alone on a small island off the coast of an unnamed African country for more than two decades. He tends to his garden, his lighthouse, and his chickens, content with a solitary life. Routinely, the nameless bodies of refugees wash ashore, but Samuel--who understands that the government only values certain lives, certain deaths--always buries them himself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eOne day, though, he finds that one of these bodies is still breathing. As he nurses the stranger back to life, Samuel--feeling strangely threatened--is soon swept up in memories of his former life as a political prisoner on the mainland. This was a life that saw his country exploited under colonial rule, followed by a period of revolution and a brief, hard-won independence--only for the cycle of suffering to continue under a cruel dictator. And he can't help but recall his own shameful role in that history. In this stranger's presence, he begins to consider, as he did in his youth: What does it mean to own land, or to belong to it? And what does it cost to have, and lose, a home?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA timeless and gripping portrait of regret, terror, and the extraordinary stakes of companionship, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAn Island\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e is a story as page-turning as it is profound.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Jennings, Karen","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Adult Fiction)","offer_id":44643498000608,"sku":"","price":13.8,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0330\/3125\/8248\/files\/59576018.jpg?v=1705692703","url":"https:\/\/agricola-street-books.myshopify.com\/products\/an-islandbooks","provider":"Agricola Street Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}