Paradise Once

(Hardback)

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Paradise Once traces the aftermath of the massacre by Spanish forces of the fictional Maima village in Cuba in 1513. Some believe the destruction of Maima is the result of angering the cemies - Taino spiritual entities - when foreign practices, contrary to the sacred laws of the Taino, began to infiltrate the village. Four young people who survive the massacre are unwittingly chosen by the cemies to save a Sacred Bundle and return it to a cave in the Cauta mountain, the mythological place the Taino are believed to have come from: Sekou, an enslaved African born in Spain who has aligned himself with the Taino resistance; Night Orchid, a young girl and the reluctant bearer of the Sacred Bundle; the young Taino noble Heart of Palm; and finally Flint, whose mother is part of the 'Old Ones,' a remnant group of people on the islands displaced by the Taino. The four survivors start off on separate paths and only learn of their roles in the sacred mission when they unite at the holy site and encounter the Maima shaman Candlewood. Under the direction of the cemies, Candlewood guides them into the cave, where the 'dark' shaman Shark Tooth - who has sold his soul to the underworld powers-awaits. As they progress on their journey, Candlewood informs them of the leadership roles they are destined to play in the preservation of the Taino culture. In time, they will together defend the heartland as resistance fighters who will become known in history as Cimarrones or Maroons. But first they must defeat Shark Tooth in a life-or-death battle for the possession of the Bundle in the sacred ball court at Cauta, the fate of the entire Taino people in their hands.

Reviews

In Paradise Once, Olive Senior achieves what no other Caribbean novelist has done before--capture in a poignantly detailed story the human and environmental catastrophe of the early years of the Columbian encounter. Exquisitely researched and steeped in the language and worldview of the Tano people, this is a historical novel like no other, one grounded in Senior's complete immersion into a world just becoming aware of its imminent disappearance, a world she fiercely and vividly brings back to life in its richness and magic.--Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert, author of Creole Religions of the Caribbean
Olive Senior's Paradise Once is a powerful historical novel that vividly portrays a crucial period in the lives of the Tano people. Senior's work weaves history and mythology, capturing the genesis and heart of Caribbean culture and showcasing her incomparable talent.--Edwidge Danticat, author of Krik Krak!
Arrival of the Snake-Woman has consolidated [Olive Senior's] reputation as one of the most accomplished writers of short fiction and as one of the Caribbean's finest creative minds.-- "Caribbean Week, on Arrival of the Snake-Woman"

Author Bio

OLIVE SENIOR is the award-winning author of twenty books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children's literature. She was the Poet Laureate of Jamaica from 2021 to 2024, and has received numerous awards and honors, including honorary doctorates from the University of the West Indies (Jamaica) and York University (Canada), the Gold Medal of the Institute of Jamaica, Canada's Matt Cohen Award for Lifetime Achievement, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Senior's work is widely translated, and is taught in schools and other institutions worldwide; her writing is also the subject of numerous critical essays. She splits her time between Toronto, Canada and Kingston, Jamaica. Paradise Once is her latest novel.