Beamis12

Much of the history in this book is actually true, the vets not being given their bonus pay, the racial injustice blacks faced after serving in the armed forces and then returning home to their families. The vets sent to the Florida Keys to build roads and the abysmal conditions they lived in. The hurricane that hit Islamorada in the Keys, though in this book it is called Heron Bay.

But what makes the story

our the people on the island, this is the part that is created and the author did a wonderful job. One gets the full force of racial segregation, relationships that are not what they should be and even a little voodoo thrown on for a little magical realism.

When the storm hits it is horrific and powerful, as are the descriptions. The desperation, the fear, which brings out the worst and the best in people. Intense and violent, the few whom are left after the storm must work to bring their community back together.

Wonderful, solid storytelling, using historical events as a background for a little known period of history. As always the author's note is
appreciated. One interesting fact is that when the actual hurricane hit the Keys, Hemingway was living in Key West and was one of the first people who came to help.

ARC from NetGalley.