A Silent Ocean Away: Colette's Dominion

By DeVa Gantt




Is it April 2009 yet? That is when the next book in this series comes out; it will be called "Decision and Destiny: Colette's Legacy." Avon Books must enjoy torturing their readers by making them wait for answers and resolutions in the drama of the Duvoisin family.

The book's Prologue is an attention-grabber:

An evening mist settled over the moss-scarred walls of the stone church, shrouding it in hopelessness. A solitary man slumped forward in one pew, muttering disparaging phrases to the looming shadows. He needed another drink. Expensive whiskey hadn't yielded peaceful oblivion, hadn't even dulled his senses. And yet, he wasn't drunk, what the hell was he doing in a house of God? What, indeed! He chortled insanely, the inebriated laugh ended in a dizzying hiccup. He'd come to pray--- pray for death. Not his own death. He wasn't quite so noble. Not yet, anyway. Instead, he petitioned the Almighty to bring about the demise of another. Retribution--- justice. His lips twisted with the delicious thought of it. Death...So simple a solution.

"Put him out of his misery. Put me out of my misery," he slurred, confronting the wooden crucifix that hung above the barren alter. "Do you hear?"

His sudden movement sent the walls careening, the statues a nauseating blur of spinning specters. He grasped for the bench, attempting to right his toppling world, but his hand missed its mark. Not so his forehead. It met the back of the wooden pew with a resounding crack. With a groan, he crumbled to the stone floor, his anger blanketed in a palette of smoky-blue, a vision that dissolved into the consuming void of blessed unconsciousness.

It was not until I re-read the Prologue after finishing the book that I realized we indeed see this mysterious character again. The clues are there, if the reader is attentive. It can be easy to miss though, because the reader gets drawn in by the great love story that evolves between Charmaine Ryan and Paul Duvoisin. Charmaine is an eighteen-year old girl who becomes a governess to three children on a Caribbean island. While Charmaine has great reason to distrust men, the children's older brother Paul, has great reason to love beautiful women. Thus, the two meet and are like oil and water. At first....

They come to an agreement. Paul will no longer make crude comments and proposition Charmaine, but she has to trust him. In time, she realizes she is falling in love with him. But is he falling in love with her?

Meanwhile, the Duvoisin clan has their own struggles to face. Frederic, the patriarch of the family, has been crippled by a stroke. His family is broken in two by an event (undisclosed as of yet) that happened among himself, his oldest son, John, and his bastard son, Paul. John is handling the family empire on the mainland in Virginia; he is basically in exile.

Colette, Frederic's second wife is ailing after two difficult pregnancies. It is then that she hires Charmaine as governess to her three young children, twin girls and a boy. Colette proves to be a wonderful friend to Charmaine and makes the Duvoisin family promise to keep Charmaine on as the governess to the children, even after her own passing. It is that simple act which secures Charmaine's position in an episode that takes place after Colette dies.

John seems to be trying to wreak havoc from the mainland when ships show up at the island with shipping invoices that have been tampered with and inventory that has been cluttered on the boat. He has few fans in the Duvoisin household, so when he actually shows up at Charmantes, on the island, he is met with much ire.

There are so many tiny details in "A Silent Ocean Away," it would be impossible to convey in one review all that will capture the reader. This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction, romance, intrigue, Caribbean islands, ships, or all of the above. The story is lavish and beautiful. It is a perfect escape to a gorgeous landscape with fascinating people in a remarkable era.

The authors, Debra and Valerie Gantt, are sisters. They created the pseudonym DeVa Gantt upon writing this story together. Their combined talents are sure to meet with great success in this, and all of their future books.

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