Barratt's "Saga" Lives Up To Its Name June 30, 2004 15 out of 15 found this review helpful
Peter Barratt's Bahama Saga: The Epic Story of the Bahama Islands lives up to its title. The epic is a sensuous sweep of Bahamian history, a vivid result of his love affair with the Islands. From the first chapter, when humans set foot in the Americas, to the last chapter, when the flag of Independence lifts into the Bahamian sky, Barratt's epic is richly textured with historical detail and human motivation. "Saga" is a wonderful cross-genre, a blurring of distinctions between genres as with opera and straight play. Barratt's cast of fictional personalities plays against the backdrop of exciting episodes in Bahamian history complete with their choruses of fated Lucayans, lustful Spaniards, adventurous Bermudians, bold pirates, enslaved Africans, exiled Loyalists, thirsty rum-runners, sun-worshipping tourists. The book is structured in two parts. In Part I, the Lucayans discover and colonize the Bahamas; Columbus and the Conquistadors re-discover and de-populate the Bahamas. Part II follows the major waves of re-colonization by the Eleutheran Adventurers, African Slaves and American Loyalists; the book closes with chapters on Emancipation and the political/economic development of the Bahamas. The author uses an informal voice, even for the historical narration. In true "saga" fashion, asides and digressions abound to enlighten and amuse. In much the style of classic epics or 18th century English novels, Barratt's historical and fictional narratives mix and mingle as he traces two families of different races down through the centuries until they merge at the end. Barratt creates the story of Tsgot, the first explorer to discover the Bahama Islands. Tsgot's ancestors were the Asians who crossed the land bridge to discover and settle the continents of North and South America and later the major islands of the Caribbean. Once colonization of the Bahamas began and trade was established, other Lucayan adventurers set out in their dugout canoes to explore more islands. In his depiction of this Lucayan odyssey, Barratt evokes magical images with sumptuous descriptions of the pristine islands and a thesaurus of colors to paint the water. As he introduces each island discovered, he forecasts the role those islands will play to future visitors as the centuries move on. One island, Grand Bahama, is significant in that today The Lucayan National Park, founded by the author, preserves a 40-acre portion of the "golden isle" first enjoyed by the Lucayans as their canoes rode the "crystal clear waters" of the "fast-moving creek ... arched over with vegetation," which was for them and for us "a magical journey."
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