'Til the Well Runs Dry: A Novel

“As universally touching as it is original” this saga of love and family secrets sweeps from the 1940s to the 1960s in Trinidad and the United States (The New York Times).

In a seaside village in the north of Trinidad, young Marcia Garcia, a gifted and smart-mouthed sixteen-year-old seamstress, lives alone, raising two small boys and guarding a family secret. When she meets Farouk Karam, an ambitious young policeman, so taken with Marcia that he elicits help from a tea-brewing obeah woman to guarantee her ardor, the rewards and risks in Marcia's life amplify forever.

'Til the Well Runs Dry sees Marcia and Farouk from their sassy and passionate courtship through personal and historical events that threaten Marcia's secret, entangle the couple and their children in a tumultuous scandal, and put the future in doubt for all of them. With this deeply human novel, Lauren Francis-Sharma gives us an unforgettable story about a woman's love for a man, a mother's love for her children, and a people's love for an island rich with calypso and Carnival, cricket and salty air, sweet fruits and spicy stews-a story of grit, imperfection, steadfast love and of Trinidad that has never been told before.

“Lauren Francis-Sharma's talent shines.” ―USA Today

“You'll hear the calypso music in this vivid debut.” ―People

“[A] spellbinding, intimately detailed, psychologically lush, and suspenseful tale.” ―Booklist, starred review

“A saga ripe with heartbreak and joy . . . rich and satisfying.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Lauren Francis-Sharma takes us to the island of Trinidad, the ‘Land of the hummingbird,' in a story that feels like a song, with a chorus of voices across generations.” ―Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

© 2024 Henry Holt and Co. (E-bog): 9780805098044

Release date

E-bog: 4. september 2024