Prospero's Daughter

Set on a Caribbean island in the grip of colonialism, this novel is “masterful . . . simply wonderful . . . [an] exquisite retelling of The Tempest” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

When Peter Gardner’s ruthless medical genius leads him to experiment on his unwitting patients—often at the expense of their lives—he flees England, seeking an environ where his experiments might continue without scrutiny. He arrives with his three-year-old-daughter, Virginia, in Chacachacare, an isolated island off the coast of Trinidad, in the early 1960s.

Gardner considers the locals to be nothing more than savages. He assumes ownership of the home of a servant boy named Carlos, seeing in him a suitable subject for his amoral medical work. Nonetheless, he educates the boy alongside Virginia. As Virginia and Carlos come of age together, they form a covert relationship that violates the outdated mores of colonial rule.

When Gardner unveils the pair’s relationship and accuses Carlos of a monstrous act, the investigation into the truth is left up to a curt, stonehearted British inspector, whose inquiries bring to light a horrendous secret. At turns epic and intimate, Prospero's Daughter, from American Book Award winner Elizabeth Nunez, uses Shakespeare’s play as a template to address questions of race, class, and power, in the story of an unlikely bond between a boy and a girl of disparate backgrounds on a verdant Caribbean island during the height of tensions between the native population and British colonists.

“Gripping and richly imagined . . . a master at pacing and plotting . . . an entirely new story that is inspired by Shakespeare, but not beholden to him.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Absorbing . . . [Nunez] writes novels that resound with thunder and fury.” —Essence

“A story about the transformative power of love . . . Readers are sure to enjoy the journey.” —Black Issues Book Review (Novel of the Year)