Palmyra
by Karen Barrow

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I used to think the past was dead and gone, that time erased memories … An unexpected visitor to a cocoa estate on the island of Trinidad triggers buried memories of the mysterious deaths that plagued a prosperous French Creole family who once lived there. Now a near ruin, the once “Great House” was where Joe, the housekeeper’s precocious eleven-year-old son, bore witness to half-understood incidents and undercurrents in the lives of its residents. Decades later, his reawakened memories begin with the arrival of a handsome young stranger to the property—a catalyst which sets off a train of tragic events with consequences that reach into the present day. Rich in historical and geographical detail, Palmyra chronicles a time when an educated elite rose from the ashes of slavery and indentureship to challenge the ruling white plantocracy and create an independent nation. A part coming-of-age story, part Gothic mystery, Palmyra conjures a world teeming with divided loyalties, family secrets, and ambition.

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Karen (MacDougall) Barrow was born on the Caribbean island of Trinidad and lived there for eighteen years. Her studies took her to Canada, while marriage to a geologist took her across the country and beyond. Three degrees later and working as an audiologist, Karen succumbed to her love of storytelling and used her passion for travel to inspire her historical fiction novels. Palmyra is her first published work of fiction. She lives with her husband in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. You can follow her at https://www.kamabarrow.org/.

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Karen Barrow

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