This Sea Within by Deborah J.Brasket

A stirring reminder that love lies at the heart of every revolution, This Sea Within by Deborah J. Brasket is a coming-of-age drama set against the civil unrest and rebellious spirit of the Yucatan Peninsula in the early 1970s. Encapsulating the “constant warfare and clash of civilizations” in the divided loyalties of one young woman, the novel probes the granular moments of building character – the dissecting, undoing, and remaking that define our destiny. Though there are some unnatural moments of dialogue, the prose is marked by lyrical imagery and visceral depictions of exotic landscapes, along with an unflinching dive into taboo ideas, making this an impressively timely and radical read, no matter the historical setting.