A Novel by Thomas Armstrong
Of Water and Rock
Of Water and Rock
Of Water and Rock derives its power from the basic human need for connectedness and belonging. When Torontonian Edward Hamblin steps off the plane in Barbados, in the winter of 1969, he crosses more than the tarmac at Seawell Airport. As he navigates the island’s racial and cultural boundaries, he leaves behind an empty life of comfort and discovers a vibrant world of simple beauty, an undiscovered family, and reconciliation with the memory of a long dead father.
Powerful converging themes give the novel an emotional strength: Edward Hamblin’s immersion into the post-colonial culture of Barbados, his unresolved animosity towards his long dead Barbadian father who deserted his family when he was young, the poor black peasant farmer, Sissy Braithwaite, and her unrequited love for an abandoned daughter, the wealthy white Mary Collymore’s disconnected life of privilege and racial intolerance. After Sissy’s death, when Edward discovers his Great Aunt’s diary, the apparently disconnected threads are drawn together. As well as revealing the true relationships between the protagonists, Edward hears his father’s voice, comes to understand and pity the man that he has for so long despised, and resolves to unite his newly discovered family in a way his father never could.
Author Thomas Armstrong
Photo by Two-Mann Tent Photography
Author Biography
Thomas Armstrong visited Barbados for the first time in 1979 and fell in love with more than the island. He married a Barbadian. From the very first the island and its people impressed upon him a sense of time and place that was both wondrous and sad. A short story, Flying in God’s Face, since published in POUI, the literary journal of Cave Hill, University of the West Indies, was originally written for a reunion of his wife’s family in 2005. Dedicated to his mother-in-law, the matriarchical head of his Barbadian family, this story was the seed from which this novel grew. Thomas Armstrong is educated in Mathematics and Science, currently makes a living as a software developer, and divides his time between Canada and Barbados. He is married and has two children.
Awards
In 2009, Of Water and Rock was entered in the Frank Collymore Literary Awards, where it won second prize.
Of Water and Rock, Thomas Armstrong, 334 pp., 5.5 x 8.5, Novel, April, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-897190-59-3 (paper) . . . $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-897190-60-9 (Bound*) . . . $34.95
* This book is “perfect bound” with an add-on
hard cover, no dust jacket.
List prices above do NOT include applicable taxes, shipping, and handling charges. Offer prices on the left DO!
To order right away using your credit card, click below on Buy Now.
For other payment methods, complete order form below...
Many Payment Options ment Options!
Option 1 – Right away, on the web, to a secure site
1. Press the BUY NOW button above.
2. This connects you with 2CheckOut.com, our fully secure credit card agent, where you can charge your account in your choice of currency.
3. Please note that 2CO is a US-based organization, and recalculates the US$ list price into your currency. Fluctuating exchange rates can sometimes cause the final price to be slightly higher or lower, on the date of conversion to any currency other than US$.
1. Just fill out the fields below, and press SUBMIT.
2. You'll get a prompt acknowledgement of your order, confirming your total price.
3. Then print this page, and enclose your check or money order.
4. Mail to: DC Books, Box 666, Stn. St. Laurent, Montreal, QC H4L 4V9 Canada
5. Made an error on SUBMIT? No problem. Just fill out the form again with the correct information, press the CORRECTION button below, then press SUBMIT again.
Option 3 – On-Line Bookstores
