Island in the Sun: A Story of the 1950's Set in the West

by Alec Waugh

To the casual visitor Santa Marta is a sub-tropical paradise, a small sister of Jamaica, Bermuda and Nassau, unmentioned in the colour-splashed brochures of travel an island where the sun shines throughout the year on the sandy beaches of innumerable coves, on the cane-fields and coconut plantations, on the shingled hits of the peasant villages and the fine houses of the white planters handed down through generation after generation, from the Sugar Barons of a past century. But this was not how the newspaper columnist, Bradshaw, saw it when he arrived on his first trip to the Caribbean. Bradshaw found Santa Marta a smouldering volcano. This novel is a brilliantly successful evocation of the atmosphere and the problems of life on a West Indian island. It is a dramatic story, packed with incident and thrilling in this mounting tension. It weaves into the fortunes of a small group of islanders the ambitions and jealousies, the hopes and fears, the complexes and inhibitions of a people to whom the tint of the skin is more important than wealth, or power, or skill, whose tangled history has bequeathed a heritage of passion in an island where the blood never cools.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

439 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1955

About the author

Born Alexander Raban Waugh to Arthur Waugh, author, literary critic, and publisher. He was the elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh. His third wife was Virginia Sorenson, author of the Newbery Medal-winning Miracles on Maple Hill.

Waugh was educated at Sherborne School, a public school in Dorset, from where he was expelled. The result of his experiences was his first, semi-autobiographical novel, The Loom of Youth (1917), clearly inspired by The Harrovians (1931) by Arnold Lunn, and so controversial at the time (it openly mentioned homosexual activities between boys) that Waugh remains the only former pupil to be expelled from the old boys society (The Old Shirburnian Society). It was also a best seller.

Waugh went on to a career as a successful author, although never as successful or innovative as his younger brother. He lived much of his life overseas, in exotic places such as Tangier - a lifestyle made possible by his second marriage, to a rich Australian. His 1957 novel Island in the Sun was a best-seller, as was his 1973 novel, A Fatal Gift.

He also published In Praise of Wine & Certain Noble Spirits (1959), an amusing and discursive guide to the major wine types, and Wines and Spirits , a 1968 book in the Time-Life series Foods of the World.

Waugh is said to have invented the cocktail party when active in the 1920s London social life and served rum swizzles to astonished friends who thought they had come for tea. Within eighteen months, early evening drinks had become a widespread social entertainment.

Waugh also has a footnote in the history of reggae music. The success of the film adaptation of Island in the Sun and the Harry Belafonte title track provided inspiration as well as the name for the highly successful Island Records record label.
(Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Description: Set on a fictitious island in the Carribean during colonial British rule, it focuses on the life of a young charismatic and handsome black male with political aspirations. He finds himself confused on returning home when his romantic liaison with a white female tends to conflict with his political views. As rumor has it an interracial screen kiss caused quite a commotion in the U.S. when the film was released. The plot is further strengthened by a look at the lives of a white ex-pat family also living on the island. The family has to deal with problems of infidelity, racism and murder.- Written by Warren D. Mottley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aqpC...

On the surface it's a halcyon soap opera, yet one doesn't have to scratch very hard to see the real tensions of the place and time period. So take your pick, watch it for the fantastic scenery, the entangled love lives, and the music, or view with a mind to just what Waugh is trying to tell the public about changing times - what was once acceptable will no longer be so in the future and hurrah for it.


James Mason as Maxwell Fleury, the family's son, who is a successful, but hot-tempered plantation owner.
Harry Belafonte as David Boyeur, a black politician representing the common people, who falls in love with Mavis Norman.
Joan Fontaine as Mavis Norman, an upper class white woman, who's a member of the richest family on the island; also the lover of David Boyeur.
Joan Collins as Jocelyn Fleury, the alluring sister of Maxwell, who's the romancer of Euan Templeton.
Dorothy Dandridge as Margot Seaton, the beautiful Indian drug store clerk, who is pursued by governor-aide, Denis Archer.
Michael Rennie as Hilary Carson, a retired war hero, who is assumed to be having an affair with Sylvia Fleury.
Patricia Owens as Sylvia Fleury, the wife of Maxwell, who Maxwell assumes is having an affair with Hilary Carson.
John Justin as Denis Archer, the governor's aide, and the romancer of Margot Seaton.
Stephen Boyd as Euan Templeton, the governor's young son, who's also courting Jocelyn Fleury.
Diana Wynyard as Mrs. Fleury, the mother of Maxwell and Jocelyn, who's hiding things from her children.
Basil Sydney as Julian Fleury, the husband of Mrs. Fleury and father of Maxwell and Jocelyn, who also is hiding things.
John Williams as Colonel Whittingham, the head of police, who investigates Hilary Carson's murder.
Ronald Squire as Governor Templeton, the governor of the island, and Euan's father.
Hartley Power as Bradshaw, an American journalist visiting Santa Marta.

Harry Belafonte - Island In The Sun

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title implies, Island in the Sun is set on a sunny, somewhat isolated island in the West Indies. The island in question is Santa Marta, a hot, dry island whose populace is colored, occupies a permanent underclass and is thoroughly dissatisfied with the cavalier British administration. The story itself revolves around a small group of patrician families living on the island. The interactions these families have with each other as well as the ever present, pernicious cancer termed innocently as 'the color problem' serve as the main focal points. Island In The Sun was very engaging right from the beginning. It lost a bit of focus towards the middle, but gradually picked up towards the end. I won't go into the details lest I spoil it for a reader, but suffice it to say that I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it, and that it was worth it in every conceivable metric available. I'll award this book a four stars. I would've given it a five, but the subplot that took up the middle third of the book dragged on a little bit too long for my tastes, and it's denouement was somewhat poorly handled.

[W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting book, intriguing characters and lovely prose, and a fascinating, well-drawn study of a Caribbean Island in the mid-twentieth century (even if a fictional one). The one main drawback is that Waugh spends a bit too much time giving details about minor characters. If he had homed in on the main few, I think it would have been stronger. Overall an enjoyable read.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alec Waugh is the elder brother of Evelyn Waugh, who wrote Brideshead Revisited. This 1955 book is about the end of the British Empire, by an author who was an exemplar of the British upper crust. The author cannot escape his upbringing and perspective, but he recognizes the consequences of the new period of the Commonwealth. Set in a fictional Caribbean island, the plot draws a cast of characters who comprise the ruling classes of this outpost, with a governor who has been parachuted in to set up independence, the historic plantation families, and the educated and aspiring natives of the island. The poorer residents are seen in conglomeration only, or in servant roles. The British ruling class members are insecure both in themselves and in their positions, and are typically bored with too much leisure. Colorism pervades their every interaction. Waugh's perspective as a British outsider is somewhat mirrored by the American journalists who visit briefly and believe themselves expert, and the faraway Foreign Minister in London who wants nothing more than the problems on this island to go away somehow. The style reminds me of both E. M. Forster and Graham Greene, both also writers of the fin-de-siècle demise of the British Empire.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying hard on this one! So far the vocabulary is a bit beyond me, the characters too transparent and I don't give a damn about British colonialism. However, things are looking up...

Just finished and felt completely invested in the characters by the end. The plot moves easily, thanks to good writing, and despite the neat packages everyone was tied up into at last, the consequences felt natural and of the character's making, not the author's.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. A little hard to get into at first, but when you get to know the charaters and learn a little about the time period and location (thank you Ava)it reads very quickly.

[Patrick Schultheis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. The characters were fantastic. The plot meandered a bit, but the quality of the writing made up for that.

The book was about 100 pages too long, but that was not fatal.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read and insight in to island life post WWII. Certainly from a racial perspective things have changed little over the last century. I liked Waugh's writing, but took me a long time to get through. Would read some then put it aside and have to come back to it a week or so later, not sure why I couldn't get in to it fully. Certainly enjoyed seeing what live was like in the 50s on these islands. I liked the dynamic characters, like to see the fall of Maxwell within his own mind. I would read again. Maxwell Fleury and his wife Sylvia, sister Jocelyn. Maxwell's thoughts that Sylvia was having an affair with Carson, who he then kills only to find he was wrong. Lord Templeton and his son Euan, the ADC Denis Archer, and his gal Margot. David Boyeur the local who gets elected to Leg Co. Bradshaw the reporter from Baltimore who sees more than most do, he gives a new perspective to their life on the island.

[Sally Crosiar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Authentic Caribbean?

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Alec Waugh’s prose. His stories are good too. I found it very interesting on many levels.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read, with a diverse cast of well-developed characters and intricate plots - but I think it would have benefited from cutting some 50 pages or so.

[Nicole Milazzo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably more like 2.5 ⭐️ but lost steam with 300 pages to go.

[JerryDeanHalleck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Made into an average movie, which is better than the novel. Well, that's a little too harsh, but not much. The book focuses on the doings of a small group of colonialist administrators on a British run carribean island. Alec Waugh's (Evelyn's older brother) literary style is pure vanilla, and doesn't give us much atmosphere. There's some inter-racial romance to spice things up.

One of those books you can read, and a day later can't remember a thing about it.

[Evelyn Pryce · Rating 3 out of 5]

It must have been hard to be Evelyn's brother, but this book was enjoyable and Alec acquits himself well.

That said, he's no Evie. :-)

[Dean Frech · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1955 or 1956 the themes are very dated...it's nice that I grew up and live in a very different era...

[William Clifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the life of changing times when the comfortable ways were on the verge of a shift incapable of being stalled.