Print Length: 272 pages
Publisher: AmazonCrossing (September 25, 2018 )
Publication Date: September 25, 2018
Synopsis
In this riveting debut, prize-winning artist and filmmaker Miquel Reina maps out ambitious and fantastical new territory in a novel about a couple holding on for dear life as their world takes an extraordinary fall...
On the highest point of an island in a house clinging to the edge of a cliff, live Mary Rose and Harold Grapes, a retired couple still mourning the death of their son thirty-five years before. Weighed down by decades of grief and memories, the Grapeses have never moved past the tragedy. Then, on the eve of eviction from the most beautiful and dangerously unstable perch in the area, they're uprooted by a violent storm. The disbelieving Grapeses and their home take a free-fall slide into the white-capped sea and float away.
As the past that once moored them recedes and disappears, Mary Rose and Harold are delivered from decades of sorrow by the ebb and flow of the waves. Ahead of them, a light shimmers on the horizon, guiding them toward a revelatory and cathartic new engagement with life, and all its wonder.
On the highest point of an island in a house clinging to the edge of a cliff, live Mary Rose and Harold Grapes, a retired couple still mourning the death of their son thirty-five years before. Weighed down by decades of grief and memories, the Grapeses have never moved past the tragedy. Then, on the eve of eviction from the most beautiful and dangerously unstable perch in the area, they're uprooted by a violent storm. The disbelieving Grapeses and their home take a free-fall slide into the white-capped sea and float away.
As the past that once moored them recedes and disappears, Mary Rose and Harold are delivered from decades of sorrow by the ebb and flow of the waves. Ahead of them, a light shimmers on the horizon, guiding them toward a revelatory and cathartic new engagement with life, and all its wonder.
My thoughts
Miquel Reina makes an excellent debut painting a vivid picture in his book "Lights on the Sea", which tells the sentimental journey of Mr. and Mrs. Grapes.
On a rocky island overlooking the ocean is Death Cliff and nestled along the edge of the cliff is Mr. and Mrs. Grapes home.
The story begins with the couple packing during a storm. They are informed they must vacate their home because a study deemed it unsafe to inhabit so it's scheduled to be demolished. To them, this news was just another illuminating reminder of how their dream of discovering the world, died a long time ago.
During this process, Mrs. Grapes finds an achingly lovely photograph that is now 35 years old.
Pictured is a young family and a partially built ship.
She reminiscences - and a tear falls.
She tucks the faded photo away in an open box. And, while she tends to things upstairs, Mr. Grapes carefully bubble wraps his bottled ship replicas, pausing to gaze fondly at his favorite miniature stored in the Mason jar. The same Mason jar his son used to carry.
Meanwhile, the storm continues and the house shakes, knocking over the hydrangeas and scattering them. Mrs. Grapes connects how this also dreadfully occurred many years ago.
Exhausted, from the day's events, the couple medicate and sleep. All the while the storm surges and they awaken to the frightening realization that their house is adrift.
What begins thereafter is a journey of 'Lights on the Sea'.
In closing, I found Miquel Reina to be a gifted writer of poignant prose and this heartbreakingly captivating journey perfectly conveys the message of the title.
This book was provided by the generosity of publicist Lucas Jones with North American Publicity.
About the Author
Miquel Reina aka Mr. was born in 1986 in Barcelona Barcelona Southampton . He has always been fascinated by a creative job, and he stated very young to work as a graphic, filmmaker, 3D animator and art director. In 2014, one of his videos was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. He has been living in Vancouver , Canada Spain
Catherine E. Nelson is a literary translator specializing in contemporary Spanish literature. Her short story translations have appeared in a variety of journals, including Indiana Review and InTranslation. AmazonCrossing published her full-length translation, A Love for Rebecca by Mayte Uceda (2015). Nelson is Professor of Spanish at Nebraska Wesleyan University, where she teaches language, literature, writing, and translation.