Thriller set on Roatán (Honduras/the Caribbean) – “..edgy, dark and heady..”

25th July 2015

After the Storm by Jane Lythell, thriller set on Roatán (Honduras)/the Caribbean.

This thriller caught my eye as it kept popping up on Social Media and of course, not many books are set in and around this particular island, the largest of Honduras’ Bay Islands, in the Caribbean. It is 77 km long and about 8 km wide, with plenty of mangroves and has the real sense of an exotic location.

The author has a feel for maintaining tension and writes in a very natural and fluid way. As she ratchets up the pathos, the story feels increasingly edgy, dark and heady.

Kim and Owen own a rather rickety wooden sailing boat, and Anna and Rob are persuaded to join them on the journey from Belize City to Roatán, although neither couple knows anything much about the other couple. They only met 24 hours previously. Anna is not altogether keen, but Rob is caught up in the Robinson Crusoe fantasy and embraces the adventure wholeheartedly. On the voyage the friendships between the four build, although tinted by the beginnings of hostility and suspicion, and individual backstories start to emerge. Life is generally harmonious for the four young people in their very cramped, and at times oppressive lodgings, but the stress of storms and other dangers begin to whittle away at the contended – and potentially blissful – lifestyle as they head towards their ultimate destination. Plenty of palm fringed islands pop up on the way, and some wonderfully tasty sounding food materialises in the capable hands of Kim (find out the best way to eat a mango, for example). Little insights into both the sailing life and local customs make this very much a three dimensional and gripping read. But from the cover and title it is clear that this is not going to be an easy ride, plenty of literal and metaphorical waves along the way.

The author is clearly very familiar with the island and through her capable hands I felt that I was there with the characters as they explored the enclaves of French Harbour, Oak Ridge and Coxen Hole, and acclimatise to island life, which is idyllic in many ways but also has a dark under-culture that is never far away. Attend a group baptism, laze on a beach or learn some of the ropes of sailing… or simply kick back and read this gripping thriller.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

We are really pleased that Jane, who made the very same journey from Belize City to Roatán, has agreed to talk to us about setting….

After The Storm is about two couples who set off together in a 37 foot boat after knowing each other less than 24 hours. The plan is to sail to a paradise island in the Caribbean Sea called Roatán. What happens during their sail and the events on the island will test the four characters to the limit.

I did that sail of 138 miles from Belize City to Roatan and it was the most exciting holiday of my life. I was a complete novice at sailing! Roatán is the largest of the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and is ringed by the third largest coral reef in the world.

I have always kept holiday journals and how very useful my Roatán one proved to be. It was full of descriptions of the food I ate, the fish I saw when I went snorkelling and the birds on the island. This is why conch stew, live lobsters, a battered grouper and the sight of pelicans landing on a mangrove make an appearance in my novel.

I also took photographs. These are now rather faded but they helped me create the atmosphere of the island. They reminded me of local details, like the duckboard jetties that lead to houses situated at the water’s edge. I used just such a jetty in a key scene where one of the characters delivers a suspect package to a waterside house and ends up hiding in the water under that house.

You can see from the photo with the fishing boats moored right next to the houses how closely the communities rely on the sea. You see shabby working boats cheek by jowl with stylish yachts. Roatán is still a place of poverty and wealth and I worked this into the novel.

The photo of the palm trees with the coconuts lying on the white sand is perhaps everyone’s image of a paradise island. Roatán has some glorious beaches and I wanted to capture moments of peace and beauty in the novel as well as a much darker side.

The first half of the book is spent on an old wooden sailing boat, the El Tiempo Pasa. I spent time walking around some boats in Brighton Marina and was reminded how tight the space in a boat is. A boat can be a claustrophobic place when tensions start to build and I wanted my characters to be put under pressure with nowhere to escape.

The setting of the boat and of Roatán felt very real to me. My next task was to create four different characters each with their own fears, desires and secrets to put into that exotic and hothouse setting. By the end of the novel all four characters have changed in subtle and in significant ways.

Thanks to Jane for sharing her experiences. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook

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