Burning the sea

the long version

"In an airport in the Dominican Republic, two troubled wanderers are drawn together by a suggestive smile and a shared sense of longing. Michelle is an American with holes in her past and so strong a need to wander that she walks in her sleep. Tollomi is a native of the West Indies, thoroughly Americanized by education and in search of his true self. The two forge an intense connection that allows them to comprehend each other's haunting secrets, even as they remain blind to their own. For Tollomi, the route to salvation lies in his deep involvement in Dominican politics; for Michelle, in the urgent desire to rebuild a long-abandoned family home that she believes holds the key to her lost memories. Michelle's obsessive drive and Tollomi's passionate affair with a young Dominican man whose brother is involved in a growing revolutionary movement pull both protagonists into a vortex of political tension between Dominicans and Americans, setting in motion an explosive series of events both heartbreaking and transcendent. Burning the Sea is a novel of emotional dislocation, cultural identity, and the powerful forces of memory and desire."--BOOK JACKET.