Five great books set in BERMUDA

31st August 2019

Bermuda is the latest country for us to visit in our ‘Great books set in…’ series. Five great books set in Bermuda.

Rum. The triangle. Coral reefs. Golf courses. Sailing. Shorts. Fish chowder. Bermuda is known for a lot of things, but probably not for its literature. Nevertheless, here are five books set firmly on this tiny Atlantic island that will help transport you there, from the comfort of your fireside chair deep in a harsh winter, or perhaps even while you’re in Bermuda, sipping a dark & stormy on one of the island’s pink sandy beaches.

TripFiction’s Andrew had the good fortune to live and work in Bermuda during the 1980s. Read here about the disproportionate importance this magical place has played in his life. And let the record show that he didn’t read many books while he was there…

Under the Moon Gate by Marilyn Baron

Dashing sea captain Nathaniel Morgan sails into the life of prim and proper Bermuda heiress Patience Whitestone and threatens to expose her family secrets–ruinous secrets she wasn’t aware of. The two are immediately at odds when Nathaniel moors his vessel in front of her estate and refuses to leave until he finds the cache of Swiss gold he’s convinced was buried somewhere on the property during World War II.

Can Patience save herself and her family’s reputation when she finds herself reluctantly drawn to this determined “pirate”? Or will someone from the past make good on his threat to destroy them both? Their fate is inextricably linked to Nazi plots and to the beautiful moon gates of Bermuda in this compelling tale of love and intrigue.

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The Deep by Peter Benchley

A young couple go to Bermuda on their honeymoon. They dive on the reefs offshore, looking for the wreck of a sunken ship. What they find lures them into a strange and increasingly terrifying encounter with past and present, a struggle for salvage and survival along the floor of the sea, in the deep.

Written by the author of Jaws fame, and adapted into the memorable 1977 film starring Nick Nolte, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Shaw and real-life Bermuda diving legend Teddy Tucker.

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Passport to Happiness by Carrie Stone

An inspiring and escapist read – Eat, Pray, Love meets Bridget Jones!

Will the trip of her dreams… Become the journey of her lifetime?

Everly Carter is bored.

With her job, with her single status and with the never ending line of rubbish men on Tinder. Tired of going through the motions of seeming happy, Everly wants to be happy!

So, in a spontaneous moment of bravery (perhaps spurred on by a few cocktails) Everly books a holiday. Time away, alone, to find out what she really wants from life.

Everly’s search for happiness takes her to picturesque Swiss villages and the sunsets of glamourous Bermuda. But with every new stamp in her passport, Everly still feels as though something is missing…

Could it be that true happiness is hard to find, until she finds herself?

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Resort to Murder by Carolyn Hart

Ex-reporter Henrietta “Henrie O” O’Dwyer Collins joins a wedding party in glorious Bermuda — only to discover that death is an uninvited guest.

Warm turquoise waters and balmy ocean breezes do little to ease Henrie O’s discomfort at having to attend the wedding of her ex-son-in-law Lloyd to Connor Bailey, a beautiful widow with a dark past and a knack for attracting men. Recently recovered from pneumonia, the retired Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist joins her grandchildren at an elegant oceanfront hotel — and is soon embroiled in a deadly puzzle that touches everyone connected with the impending union.

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The Isle of Devils by Craig Janacek

November, 1880. An aimless, freshly-wounded twenty-eight year-old discharged British Army surgeon finds himself washed ashore on the lush Atlantic island of Bermuda. He has few prospects, and seems content roaming the back streets of the ancient town of St. George’s, reading mystery novels, and wagering on games of chance. Slowly, it begins to dawn on him that his residence, the Globe Hotel, is filled to the brim with a series of enigmatic globetrotters. Why have they all gathered in this sleepy town in the farthest reaches of the British Empire?

All of these idle ponderings are dashed from his brain when a terrible hurricane descends upon the isle and threatens to destroy the town. But when he awakens to find a dead man in the room next door, shot seven times and his corpse defaced with lurid symbols, everything and everyone begin to take on a sinister light. Asked to assist the outclassed local constable in his efforts to unravel the plethora of suspects and clues, he magnificently rises to the task. But what he discovers upon the Isle of Devils will change his life forevermore and set him upon the path to his destiny.

Told with a deep affection for the land and customs of Bermuda, The Isle of Devils seems at once fresh and yet wistfully familiar.

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Andrew for the TripFiction Team

Which titles would you add to the list? Remember to check out the TripFiction listings for more books set in Nigeria and around the world. Each will transport you to some excellent fiction, travelogues or memoirs. Or you may have your own favourites you would like to add. Please leave your thoughts in the Comments box below.

Other posts in our ‘Ten/five great books set in…’ series that might interest you:

Ten great books set in New York

Five great books set in Mexico

Five great books set in San Francisco

Five great books set in California

Five great books set in Canada

Five great books set in Chile 

Five great books set in Argentina 

Five great books set in Colombia 

Five great books set in Peru 

Five great books set in Brazil

And remember to check out our interactive Great Books Map page for every destination around the world covered in our ‘Ten/five great books set in…’ series.

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