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.