Burning the Sea

Sarah Pemberton Strong debuts with Burning the Sea, the story of two drifting souls who come together in the Dominican Republic. Michelle, an American and a lifelong wanderer, has just left a lover in Berlin. She arrives on the island and meets Tollomi, a young man from St. Croix whose history is just as fraught as hers, and each tries to fill in the gaps in their respective pasts. Michelle wants to rebuild a ruined house once owned by her grandparents, and Tollomi begins an affair with a local boy named Carlitos as various tensions simmer across the island. Strong's narrative meanders at times, but overall her story is beautiful and affecting. National advertising.