Kawai Strong Washburn

Sharks in the Time of Saviors is a groundbreaking debut novel that folds the legends of Hawai’ian gods into an engrossing family saga; a story of exile and the pursuit of salvation from Kawai Strong Washburn. “Old myths clash with new realities, love is in a ride or die with grief, faith rubs hard against magic, and comic flips with tragic so much they meld into something new. All told with daredevil lyricism to burn. A ferocious debut.” —Marlon James, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf “So good it hurts and hurts to where it heals. It is revelatory and unputdownable. Washburn is an extraordinarily brilliant new talent.” —Tommy Orange, author of There There In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends. Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods—a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy. When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i—with tragic consequences—they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.

A Novel

Sharks in the Time of Saviors

Squali al tempo dei salvatori

In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends.

Sharks in the Time of Saviours

Roman

Haie in Zeiten von Erlösern

A storm strikes Minneapolis with a ferocity the world has never seen before, though the results are familiar: lives are lost, neighborhoods destroyed, communities upended. This is the new normal, perhaps, but faster and more intense than anyone had planned for (i.e., the new new normal.) Naomi is a lawyer by day and an amateur MMA fighter by night, a Hawaiian transplanted to the midwest for her less-than-satisfying career. Amaré is a young investment banker who has some grand intentions for all the money he’s about to make. And Raheem is a diesel truck mechanic who finds himself in very bad shape ater the storm. Naomi and Amaré come together to rescue Raheem. For the next twenty-five years, their personal and professional lives intertwine into a gripping saga of American life in the age of climate change. It is Naomi who has at the center of it, as she turns her frustrations with the legal response to the super-tornado into a political platform that leads her to a hot-button career in D.C. Her burgeoning relationship with Amaré both sustains and challenges them both as it competes with their ambitions—as Amaré develops more of a moral conscience to match his financial acumen and Naomi learns how to effect real change. And in the meantime, Raheem’s fate a blue-collar business-owner remains deeply intertwined with the grand projects of his two world-beating friends—including, eventually, their son, Rio, who will, of course, have to live in and be a part of this new world they leave behind. The Names of the New World unfolds with the grandeur of a bold social novel like The Bonfire of the Vanities intertwined with the will-they-won't-they narrative suspense of Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Ranging from the midwest to Washington, D.C., to Naomi’s native Pacific Islands, The Names of the New World is, above all, a startling, energetic, and optimistic vision from a dazzling young author of how we’ll all live in this era of climate change.

The Names of the New World

In 1994 in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores is saved from drowning by a shiver of sharks. His family, struggling to make ends meet amidst the collapse of the sugar cane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favour from ancient Hawaiian gods. But as time passes, this hope gives way to economic realities, forcing Nainoa and his siblings to seek salvation across the continental United States, leaving behind home and family. With stunning physical detail and a profound command of language, Washburn's powerful debut examines what it means to be both of a place, and a stranger in it.

In 1995 Hawaii, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard from a cruise ship. When sharks appear in the water, everyone fears the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends. Nainoa's family hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods--one that appears validated after he exhibits new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart. When supernatural events revisit the Flores family, they are forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival." -- page [4] of cover.

En 1995 à Hawaii, au cours d’une balade familiale en bateau, le petit Nainoa Flores tombe par-dessus bord en plein océan Pacifique. Lorsqu’un banc de requins commence à encercler l’enfant, tous craignent le pire. Contre toute attente, Nainoa est délicatement ramené à sa mère par un requin qui le transporte entre ses mâchoires, scellant cette histoire extraordinaire du sceau de la légende. Sur près de quinze ans, nous suivons l’histoire de cette famille qui peine à rebondir après l’effrondrement de la culture de la canne à sucre à Hawaii. Pour Malia et Augie, le sauvetage de leur fils est un signe de la faveur des anciens dieux — une croyance renforcée par les nouvelles capacités déroutantes de guérisseur de Nainoa. Mais au fil du temps, cette supposée faveur divine commence à briser les liens qui unissaient la famille. Chacun devra alors tenter de trouver un équilibre entre une farouche volonté d’indépendance et l’importance de réparer la famille, les cœurs, les corps, et pourquoi pas l’archipel lui-même. Avec cet éblouissant premier roman, Kawai Strong Washburn lève le voile sur l’envers du décor hawaiien, à rebours des clichés et du tourisme de luxe. Il offre de ces îles une vision plurielle et bouleversante, servie par un chœur de voix puissant, et livre une histoire familiale unique et inoubliable.

Kawai Strong Washburn

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