Set on a fictional Caribbean island in the town of Paradise, Cereus Blooms at Night unveils the mystery surrounding Mala Ramchandin and the tempestuous history of her family. At the heart of this bold and seductive novel is an alleged crime committed many years before the story opens. Mala is the reclusive old woman suspected of murder who is delivered to the Paradise Alms House after a judge finds her unfit to stand trial. When she arrives at her new home, frail and mute, she is placed in the tender care of Tyler, a vivacious male nurse, who becomes her unlikely confidante and the storyteller of Mala's extraordinary life.In luminous, sensual prose, internationally acclaimed writer Shani Mootoo combines diverse storytelling traditions to explore identity, gender, and violence in a celebration of our capacity to love.

Cereus Blooms at Night: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Mootoo, Shani

United States

Harper-perennial

LONGLISTED 2014 – Scotiabank Giller Prize From the author of Cereus Blooms at Night and Valmiki’s Daughter, both nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, comes a haunting and courageous new novel. Written in vibrant, supple prose that vividly conjures both the tropical landscape of Trinidad and the muted winter cityscape of Toronto, Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab is a passionate eulogy to a beloved parent, and a nuanced, moving tale about the struggle to embrace the complex realities of love and family ties. Jonathan Lewis-Adey was nine when his parents, who were raising him in a tree-lined Toronto neighbourhood, separated and his mother, Sid, vanished from his life. It was not until he was a grown man, and a promising writer with two books to his name, that Jonathan finally reconnected with his beloved parent—only to find, to his shock and dismay, that the woman he’d known as “Sid” had morphed into an elegant, courtly man named Sydney. In the decade following this discovery, Jonathan made regular pilgrimages from Toronto to visit Sydney, who now lived quietly in a well-appointed retreat in his native Trinidad. And on each visit, Jonathan struggled to overcome his confusion and anger at the choices Sydney had made, trying with increasing desperation to rediscover the parent he’d once adored inside this familiar stranger. As the novel opens, Jonathan has been summoned urgently to Trinidad where Sydney, now aged and dying, seems at last to offer him the gift he longs for: a winding story that moves forward sideways as it slowly peels away the layers of Sydney’s life. But soon it becomes clear that when and where the story will end is up to Jonathan, and it is he who must decide what to do with Sydney’s haunting legacy of love, loss, and acceptance.

Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab

Literary

Doubleday, Canada

"A stunning meditation on story--how our lives are shaped by both the stories we're told and the stories we tell. . . portrays the beautiful (yet often tense) bond between a parent and child, the complexities of immigration, the fluidity of gender. . . . It is a gorgeously written novel, typical of Mootoo's poetic gifts." National Post Jonathan Lewis-Adey was nine when his parents, who were raising him in a comfortable house on a tree-lined street in downtown Toronto, separated, and his mother Sid vanished entirely from his life. It is not until he is a grown man--a writer with two books to his name, a supportive girlfriend, and a promising career--that Jonathan finally reconnects with his beloved lost parent, only to find, to his shock and dismay, that the woman he knew as "Sid" has become an elegant man named Sydney living quietly in a well-appointed house in his native Trinidad. In the nine years since then, Jonathan has travelled from Canada to pay regular visits to Sydney on his island retreat, trying with quiet desperation to rediscover the parent he adored inside this familiar stranger. And for nine years, as his own life and career stall, he struggles to overcome his confusion and repressed anger at the choices Sydney has made. As the novel opens, Jonathan has been summoned urgently to Trinidad where Sydney, now aged and dying, seems at last to offer him the gift he longs for: a winding story that moves forward sideways as it reveals the truths of Sydney's life. But when and where the story will end is up to Jonathan, and it is he who must decide what to do with Sydney's haunting legacy of love, loss and acceptance.

Anchor Canada

Cereus Blooms at Night

McClelland & Stewart Ltd.

He Drown She in the Sea

MCCLELLAND STEWART

Set on the fictional Caribbean island of Guanagaspar around the time of the Second World War, and in modern-day Vancouver, He Drown She in the Sea, fulfills the promise of Shani Mootoo’s internationally acclaimed debut novel, Cereus Blooms at Night. At the centre of the story is Harry St. George, the sonof a laundress, and the unrequited love he bears for a woman, Rose, the daughter of a wealthy man, whom he knew as a child. Looking back to his past, evoking the rich culture and texture of his Caribbean boyhood, and the life of his mother, Dolly, Harry reveals his friendship with Rose, and the events that will continue to haunt him across time and place. When Rose arrives suddenly in Vancouver, where Harry has built a hard-earned life for himself, the two embark on an impossible affair that will have tragic consequences. He Drown She in the Sea is a vividly evoked, subtly described story of love, class division, and the unrelenting hold of the past, told by one of our most gifted writers. Shani Mootoo joins the front ranks of Carribean literature, in the company of Austin Clarke and Dionne Brand. From the Hardcover edition.

Emblem Editions

HB no DJ as issued.See my photos. Illustrated cover.Large Print. Title: Cereus Blooms at Night. Author: Shani Mootoo. ISBN# 0 7862 1734 0. 423 pages. Publisher: Thorndike Press.English.

Thorndike Pr

Judged unfit to stand trial for a murder she is accused of committing many years before, the aging, notoriously crazy Mala Ramchandin is placed under the care of a vivacious male nurse who becomes her unlikely confidant. First serial, Grand Street. Tour.

Grove Pr

Two childhood friends--Harry, the half-caste son of a hard-working maid, and Rose, the daughter of his mother's employer--form a bond that drives them later in life to break free from the social manacles that have kept them apart, in a story of the dangers of love against all odds. By the author of Cereus Blooms at Night.

He Drown She in the Sea: A Novel

Contemporary

GROVE PRESS

Shani Mootoo’s haunting debut took the international literary world by storm. A Book Sense selection and a finalist for the Giller Prize, the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, Cereus Blooms at Night is an exquisite cross-generational history filled with thrilling passion and alluring mystery. Set in the fictional Caribbean town of Paradise, Cereus Blooms at Night unveils the mystery surrounding Mala Ramchandin, an aging, notoriously crazy woman suspected of murdering her father. When a judge finds Mala unfit to stand trial, she is delivered, frail and mute, to the Paradise Alms House and into the care of Tyler, a vivacious male nurse, who becomes the unlikely storyteller of Mala’s extraordinary life. In luminous, sensual prose, Mootoo explores identity, gender, and violence in a celebration of our capacity to love despite cruelty and despair.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mootoo, Shani. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mootoo, Shani

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mootoo, Shani. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Cereus Blooms at Night: A Novel

Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab

Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab

Cereus Blooms at Night

He Drown She in the Sea

He Drown She in the Sea

Cereus Blooms at Night

Cereus Blooms at Night

He Drown She in the Sea: A Novel

Cereus Blooms at Night