“Secrets” Of Bermudian’s Success

Bermudian author Nadia Aguiar has cast her magical spell over young readers again with “Secrets of Tamarind”, the eagerly anticipated sequel to her 2008 debut novel “The Lost Island of Tamarind.”

Published in the UK last month and due out in the US next spring, “Secrets” has received some warm early reviews with critics describing the second book in a proposed ”Tamarind” trilogy as an” engaging fantasy” with ”many strengths.” 

The  island of Tamarind — where fish fly, pirates sail the waters, jaguars lurk, the islanders are at war and an evil, child-stealing enchantress rules the jungle — is an imaginary twin to Bermuda which can only be accessed through the Bermuda Triangle. In “Secrets”, the three children of marine biologists who were marooned there in the first book pay a return visit to Tamarind and their friends. 

“The Island of Tamarind is once again under threat, from the evils of the Red Coral,” said one on-line review. “Once more Simon and his sisters Maya and Penny (but mostly Simon) must save the island that only they can reach, as it lies in some exotic Bermuda Triangle. For a second book running they must breach the barriers, solve mysteries surrounding their native friend Helix’s legacy, and the native magical element ophalla, and put the island to rights … The writing is in fact very warmly rich … The plot also has an eco-friendly lesson, as the Red Coral are a gang of miners whose effects are killing off the exotic fantasy paradise … On the whole once you are caught in the spell of the quest here you will enjoy the breadth of location, scenery, mystical beings set against common-or-garden, and a lot more – and this book will be one to keep on the shelves for some time.”

Ms Aguiar [pictured at left] grew up in Tamarind Vale, Warwick and attended Mount St. Agnes. She received a BA from McMaster University in Canada and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University and worked in the New York publishing industry for six years before returning to Bermuda.

She has said the Tamarind trilogy was the culmination of  a childhood fantasy about being wrecked on a desert island: “The sounds, smells, heat (of Bermuda) — the ocean – all these made their way into Tamarind in a way that I don’t think they would have if I’d been from elsewhere.

“The natural world is very powerful and beautiful here, and magical things are part of ordinary days. We really do have glowing sea creatures, and all you have to do is spend an afternoon on the ocean to discover something miraculous. Also, I don’t think that I could have written about siblings as easily if I didn’t have so many of my own — that dynamic of bickering but really loving each other, and sharing childhoods with one other, is very familiar to me. Finally, Tamarind is a variation of my greatest childhood fantasy — to be shipwrecked on a deserted island: hardly imaginative for a kid who grew up on an isolated island!”

When “Lost Island of Tamarind” was published, it received rave reviews around the world — including an enthusiastic notice in “The New York Times”:  “The book’s magic . . . lies in Aguiar’s precise, often lyrical descriptions.  A native and resident of Bermuda, she writes with authority about daily life in the tropics  … Aguiar uses her knack for realistic details equally well in the magical parts … ‘The Lost Island of Tamarind’ has a gentle spirit, tempering its dangers with warmth.”

The Tamarind books are published by Puffin in the UK and Macmillan in the United States.

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