Zo: A novel

A riveting, gorgeously written debut novel—a contemporary Romeo and Juliet saga with great emotional power, set in Haiti during the 2010 earthquake and its aftermath. When we first meet Zwazo Delalun—Zo—he is a young orphan in a fishing village. Although he’s been told he may be the “poorest boy in the Western Hemisphere,” he possesses every trademark of a hero: he's strong, honest, and courageous, and he dreams of a better life. As he grows up, Zo travels the island, working in the cane fields and almond orchards and out at sea—but he longs for something work can’t earn him: love. Then one morning, while hauling cement under the broiling sun, he meets Anaya, a beautiful nursing student sipping cherry juice under a tree. Their attraction is instantaneous, fierce. Anaya uses her knowledge of medicine to cure Zo of the malaria that's plagued him for months, even as she intoxicates him with a love more potent than any he could have imagined. But Anaya’s father, a prominent doctor, cannot accept that a poor, uneducated man is destined for his daughter, and he takes measures to stop their union. Zo and Anaya nevertheless find a way to be together—making a new home in the hills outside Port-au-Prince—until the unthinkable happens: an earthquake roils the ground. Homes, hospitals, and churches topple; roads crack. Zo watches as the city—where Anaya is in class—is reduced to rubble in a searing instant. Even before the dust has settled, Zo is ready to risk his life to rescue her—if he can only find her, and keep himself alive in the meantime. Suspenseful, heartrending, written in lyrical prose, Zo captures the sensory splendor of Haiti at a moment of historic crisis and transformation, as it tells the unforgettable story of one remarkable man’s life and love.