Isolated from the mainland, Fran and Christian strive to save a species of bird from extinction on an island near Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Reticent to reveal their personal losses to the other, their relationship remains professional until a combination of human sabotage and a typhoon push them into a deeper bond of mutual reliance. Much like Hidden Latitudes (LJ June 1, 1996 v121 n10 p146), the story is told from both characters’ points of view, takes place on a remote island, and pits human survival against the harshness of nature. Devoting her life and academic career to studying and saving the birds, Fran empathizes when infertility assails them, and catalogs the failure of her marriage and the untimely death of her lover, while Christian forgets the horrors he experienced as a Red Cross delegate in Bosnia with a beautiful indigenous woman. Anderson lends her wise observations of human psyche to another lyrical book and perfectly captures the conjunction of colonialism, gender issues and Third-World economic development. Highly recommended for all libraries.
—Rebecca Tolley-Stokes, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson City