Description
Sharks in the Time of Saviours by Kawai Strong Washburn is a literary novel about family, heritage and the complicated weight of belonging. In 1995 Hawaii, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls from a cruise ship into the Pacific and is miraculously returned to his mother by a group of sharks. His family interprets the event as a sign of favour from the ancient Hawaiian gods, especially after Nainoa begins to display mysterious abilities.
As the Flores children grow older and leave Hawaii, each struggles differently with the expectations attached to their family’s extraordinary story. Nainoa group of sharks miraculously returns him to his mothera searches for meaning in his abilities, his brother Dean pursues success through elite sport, and his sister Kaui fights to establish an identity independent of her family’s legacy. When tragedy brings them back to Hawaii, they must confront questions of heritage, family, belief and survival.
This book would appeal to readers who enjoy literary fiction with elements of magical realism, family sagas, mythology and stories rooted in cultural identity and place.
