Deborah Brasket blogs at Writing on the Edge of the Wild
This Sea Within, Deborah Brasket’s new novel is not a departure from When Things Go Missing in writing quality as both books are obviously written by a skilled craftsperson or in the search for identity at the heart of the stories, but in every other respect it is a vastly different book. This Sea Within is driven by passion and courage.
The protagonist Lena, a sheltered American college graduate, travels to the fictional country of San Balanque to learn more about herself. Soon after arriving, she discovers that she will jump into life feet first without looking back as she throws her lot in with the freedom fighters based largely on her passionate love for Raoul, the leader of the rebels. It seems like quite the leap to transform from the pacifist to a cult figure of the movement, but the reader witnesses Lena making that move step by step.
Brasket keeps the reader in suspense throughout as the secret of who Lena’s mother is hangs over her head throughout much of the book. The writing style features gorgeous descriptions of the beauty of the jungle, and the opening scene describing Lena and the ocean as she is surfing is a knockout. I can only imagine the extensive research Brasket had to do to write this story.
The top layer thread of the book is the relationship between Lena and Raoul which is a torrid love affair with beautifully written sex scenes. But perhaps the most hidden layer of the story I only realized after I finished the book. It pertains to what happens when we connect our lives with someone else and how that can change us. No spoiler alert here: you’ll have to read the book for yourself!
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