From National Book Award–nominated writer Andrea Lee comes Red Island House, a travel epic that opens a window on the mysterious African island of Madagascar, and on the dangers of life and love in paradise, as seen through the eyes of a Black American heroine.
“People do mysterious things when they think they have found paradise,” reflects Shay, the heroine of Red Island House. When Shay, an intrepid Black American professor, marries Senna, a brash Italian businessman, she doesn’t imagine that her life’s greatest adventure will carry her far beyond their home in Milan: to an idyllic stretch of beach in Madagascar where Senna builds a flamboyant vacation villa. Before she knows it, she becomes the reluctant mistress of a sprawling household, caught between her privileged American upbringing and her connection to the continent of her ancestors. So begins Shay’s journey into the heart of a remote African country. Can she keep her identity and her marriage intact amid the wild beauty and the lingering colonial sins of this mysterious world that both captivates and destroys foreigners?
A mesmerizing, powerful tale of travel and self-discovery that evokes Isabel Allende’s House of the Spirits and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, Red Island House showcases an extraordinary literary voice and gorgeously depicts a lush and unknown world.

- 288 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Red Island House
About this book
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- 1. The Packet War
- 2. The Children
- 3. Blondes
- 4. Sirens
- 5. Voice
- 6. Noble Rot
- 7. The Rivals
- 8. Guess Whoâs Coming to Dinner
- 9. Sister Shadow
- 10. Elephantsâ Graveyard
- Note from the Author
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Copyright
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Yes, you can access Red Island House by Andrea Lee in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literature General. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.