The Sea on Our Skin is set on an island in the South Pacific, remote from everywhere and everything, including modern life.
Outwardly a paradise, the small island community revolves around family with their traditional lives defined by the sea: some are securely held by it while others use it as a means of escape.
Ioane and Amalia are opposites in every way - Amalia, happy to be an island wife, and her husband Ioane, always compelled to leave. Their stories, both painful and loving, and the stories of their children are full of the rhythms of island life and the smell and sound of the sea as paradise begins to change...
You don't know anything about an island, my father said, unless you can feel the movement of the sea around it. It's where people find their souls, though they don't all know it . . .
The Sea on Our Skin
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Review
'a quickly paced read, which drips with sumptuous imagery.'
(Image )'First-time novelist Madeleine Tobert has written a totally convincing fiction about a small island community, somewhere in the Pacific, still untainted by Western ways.'
(The Age )'Written with a graceful simplicity . . . a straightforward, fable-like tale'
(Scotland on Sunday )'Written with warmth and humour and has plenty of unexpected turns.'
(Bay of Plenty Times )'[Tobert's] creative skills and care with her writing shine through in this impressive first novel.'
(Hawkes Bay Weekend )'Extraordinary and absorbing . . . recommended for a read you will find both lyrical and memorable.'
(Southland Times )'An intergenerational narrative of stunning lyrical quality.'
(Listener NZ )About the Author
Originally from Scotland, Madeleine spent several years in the Pacific islands. She tried to leave but found she just couldn't. She now lives in Auckland with her Fijian husband. The Sea on Our Skin is her first book.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was really impressed when I realised that it was the author's first novel. The beautifully vivid descriptions of the island and village transported me back to the pacific, where I was earlier this year. At times, I could almost smell the sea or taste the food depicted.
Despite the sad undertones present, the book is not without a sense of hope or indeed a sense of humour. The simple and honest way in which the author describes the characters and their interactions, with each other and their environment, allows the reader to ponder the intricacies of human emotions. While many of the themes portrayed in the book can be considered universally applicable (family discord, secrets etc), others are more specific to the Pacific setting and culture. It is the interplay between the two; mirrored as it is in the opening up of the Village to the rest of the Island that really struck a cord with me. Tobert does not shy away from the grittier elements of human nature either, which strikes me as brave.
Overall, I thought that this was a really readable book. I didn't put it down until I'd finished it; swept along as much by the elements of magical realism and intrigue as the story itself. I picked this book up as it was about the Pacific and I had recently travelled there but I will definitely be looking out for more works by this author in the future!
Despite the sad undertones present, the book is not without a sense of hope or indeed a sense of humour. The simple and honest way in which the author describes the characters and their interactions, with each other and their environment, allows the reader to ponder the intricacies of human emotions. While many of the themes portrayed in the book can be considered universally applicable (family discord, secrets etc), others are more specific to the Pacific setting and culture. It is the interplay between the two; mirrored as it is in the opening up of the Village to the rest of the Island that really struck a cord with me. Tobert does not shy away from the grittier elements of human nature either, which strikes me as brave.
Overall, I thought that this was a really readable book. I didn't put it down until I'd finished it; swept along as much by the elements of magical realism and intrigue as the story itself. I picked this book up as it was about the Pacific and I had recently travelled there but I will definitely be looking out for more works by this author in the future!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a compelling, emotionally powerful read, and a mature piece of writing for a first novel. The author manages to convey these tales of remote island life (and their occasional encouters with the outside world) with conviction and simplicity. She never falls into the trap of being patronising or clichéd about the islanders either, so it's very easy to identify with all of the novel's characters at some point (even the terriying patriarch Ioane Matete, who ultimately became my favourite character).
Although some people might be inclined to dissmiss this book as a 'holiday read' I think that would be a mistake. The island setting is beautifully rendered, but it belies the dark undercurrents which lie just beneath the story's surface. Ever present, they continually threaten to drag under one or other of the novel's best-loved, and least deserving, characters.
There is, of course, a love story at the centre, but it's not at all obvious, and ultimately very affecting. The author carefully balances it with darker, more macabre themes. Fate and the generational effects of domestic violence follow these characters fom start to finish.
When I consider this is a first novel from an unkown writer, I'm really impressed and thrilled that I stumbled upon this author so early in her career.
Although some people might be inclined to dissmiss this book as a 'holiday read' I think that would be a mistake. The island setting is beautifully rendered, but it belies the dark undercurrents which lie just beneath the story's surface. Ever present, they continually threaten to drag under one or other of the novel's best-loved, and least deserving, characters.
There is, of course, a love story at the centre, but it's not at all obvious, and ultimately very affecting. The author carefully balances it with darker, more macabre themes. Fate and the generational effects of domestic violence follow these characters fom start to finish.
When I consider this is a first novel from an unkown writer, I'm really impressed and thrilled that I stumbled upon this author so early in her career.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Andrew Foulds
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Wonderful escapist literature that either drives you insane or tears at your heart luckily I fall into the latter category! Not perfect but worth reading
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
The sea on our skin
Remarkably well written, and if you tend to gravitate towards sadness in a narrative, then like me, you will probably enjoy this book. Read more
Published 19 days ago by -EFox-
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant book, wonderful cover
I LOVE this book. It explores Island life and the role of the sea in the Pacific. It is wonderfully written and I thoroughly enjoyed it and lent it to a friend of mine who is a... Read more
Published 3 months ago by F Carson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good read
I don't usually go for books like this: romance type stuff. I'm not sure what attracted me to this book either, but I'm glad I gave it a go. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. K. Cross
5.0 out of 5 stars
An island story as powerful as the storms that shape it
For me The Sun on Our Skin was both a gripping adventure story that turned the pages with as much ease as I can remember and a surprisingly engaging perspective on what happens to... Read more
Published 7 months ago by B. G. Keene
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Read!!!
The writing and style really bring the island and the sheltered world to life, especially the sea. A beautiful story told really well and most of the, very different, characters... Read more
Published 8 months ago by S. Fernandes
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ideal holiday read
Quite a surprise for a first novel, this was an absorbing book that really caught the attention such that you felt loathed to put it down. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Cheshire Cat
3.0 out of 5 stars
The dark side of sunny Pacific island life
Life on a remote island in the Pacific is strangely timeless - cut off from the mainland, the villagers live a traditional existence, happily trapped. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Gabrielle O
5.0 out of 5 stars
Short, beautiful and delicate
The title of this review says it all about how this book reads.
It is a short novel, delicately composed to suit its often sorrowful story, but so vivid and beautiful to... Read more
It is a short novel, delicately composed to suit its often sorrowful story, but so vivid and beautiful to... Read more
Published 13 months ago by D Peers
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unputdownable
I was attracted to this book by the fact that it was set in a the South Pacific. I wanted to be transported to an idylic island in the sun, feel the breeze on my face, smell the... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Babs
3.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing
I'm in the minority with my thoughts on this book. Sadly, it just didn't captivate me in the way I'd hoped. Read more
Published 13 months ago by kehs
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