SHARK ISLAND

by Maurice Edelman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1967

This is one of Maurice Edelman's suavely managed melodramas, with a splendid setting and a full agenda of personal and political problems when Shark Island, a pocket sized Cuba, is caught in a bind between emancipation (""Us not the U.S."") and exploitation. Shark Island has 6000 people, 23 churches, and no source of income at all. Certain speculators, a Senator and a crook, see it as a possible site for a casino whereas the natives would like a school, and British Administrator Edgar Morritt, who has been stationed there for two years, is determined not to let it become an ""annex of Las Vegas."" Morritt has other problems; an asthenic wife who lingers in bed--chiefly for the ministrations of an insolent and brutal houseboy; the wife of a visiting Minister of State who will oppose him on the development-corruption of the island; and a young anthropologist who is very sweet and is called Honey. A compensation since Morritt goes down in defeat, even though he is fully aware of the much older schism between practical politics and impractical idealism....Edelman also keeps the interests of his constituents in mind--this is a knowledgeable entertainment which reads with surpassing ease.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1967

Categories: FICTION