Burning the Sea

In an airport in the Dominican Republic, two searchers are drawn together by a suggestive smile and a shared sense of longing. Michelle is a young American with holes in her past and a need to wander so strong that she walks in her sleep. Tollomi is a native of the West Indies, thoroughly Americanized by education and in search of his truer self. Haunted by elusive secrets of the past, they forge an intense connection that allows them to comprehend each other's secrets while remaining blind to their own. For Tollomi, the route to salvation lies in his deep involvement in Dominican politics; for Michelle, it is the rebuilding of a family home, long abandoned, which she hopes will hold the key to her lost memories. Michelle's blindly obsessive drive to complete construction and Tollomi's passionate love affair with a young Dominican man whose brother is involved in a growing revolutionary movement, pulls both into the vortex of volatile tensions between Dominicans and Americans surrounding increasing tourism and a national election, setting in motion an explosive series of events both heartbreaking and transcendent. In this remarkable debut novel, Sarah Pemberton Strong's poetically simple language enhances a story of emotional dislocation, cultural identity, and the powerful forces of memory and desire.

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Advance Reader Copies

Media campaign to mainstream and alternative presses

New England and Mid Atlantic author appearacnces including Boston, Amherst and New York.

Sarah Pemberton Strong was born in California in 1967. After spending much time in the Caribbean and on both coasts of the U.S., she currently lives in Massachusetts. Burning the Sea is her first novel.

In an airport in the Dominican Republic, two searchers are drawn together by a suggestive smile and a shared sense of longing. In this remarkable debut novel, Sarah Pemberton-Strong's poetically simple language enhances a story of emotional dislocation, cultural identity, and the powerful forces of memory and desire.