2 weeks ago
6
Lead Editor-Newsgathering
On the island of St Gyles, a small mass of land off the coast of Tobago, a fictional story of love meets climate change in Latoyaa Roberts-Thomas’ third book, The Tide Reclaims.
Her novel connects two distant themes, but both are of common interest to Roberts-Thomas. The story follows marine biologist Megan Rivera, who returns home after years abroad to find her childhood paradise crumbling under the weight of climate change.
Partnering with James Hall, a passionate and reformed business tycoon, the couple spearheads the Blue Catalyst Initiative—a groundbreaking project blending renewable energy, sustainable fishing, coral restoration, and ecotourism to breathe life back into the island’s endangered ecosystem and fragile economy.
However, as the duo fights to transform St Gyles into a beacon of green innovation, they face fierce resistance from powerful developers and sceptical villagers.
When asked about the inspiration behind the novel, Roberts-Thomas said, “I wanted to write a novel, and I didn’t just want to write a romance book where a boy meets a girl, a boy likes a girl. You know, the typical thing, but I wanted a book that speaks to some kind of value system and speaks to a call for action at the end, and because I’m based in the Caribbean, the setting of the book is basically dealing with a small island.”
Roberts-Thomas knows about small islands. She grew up in Mary’s Hill in Tobago. At 37, she has grown up seeing how the island has been affected by climate change. She is hoping her book inspires people to act.
She explained to WE magazine, “I want to bring the fiction to reality. So, when people read this book, they should be able to attest to things in their reality. They’re supposed to be able to attest to that. They have faced struggles with hurricanes and have to rebuild. They have seen instances of coral bleaching and degradation, so the beach is not as clean and nice as they once used to have it for walking on the beach. I want persons to see that these things that I’m describing in this fictional book are what they go through, and what are some solutions that they can adapt or continue to do.”
The idea of marrying romance with the climate change theme was aimed at making the latter more palatable for the reader to consume. Roberts-Thomas said, “At first, when I started to write this novel, I had to research a little bit about climate change because I’m not a climate change specialist in any way. In reading all these reports and journals and looking at all these YouTube videos, it was very heavy. It was dense. It was very thick. I just wanted a very light way to explain that if you go outside and you’re not seeing the flowers blooming again, and you’re not seeing the bees buzzing, it’s because you’re also suffering from an impact of climate change.”
She praised her two daughters. When she ran the idea of connecting romance with climate change, they encouraged her to pen the novel.
She’s hoping that while the story may be one of romance, readers will also fall in love with the environment. She added, “All the subtle things that you used to take for granted in your community, in your daily life, and you’re seeing these changes happening; something has to do with the environment and how we as humans need to think about sustainability, need to think about love for the environment, need to think about love for nature, need to think about preserving the place that you’re at. So, while you’re passionately looking for love, finding and searching for someone, that is great. But the love for the environment is also part of that search as you continue to build your life.”
The Tide Reclaims is the third book published by Roberts-Thomas. Her first book was a collection of poems, while her second took readers through the process of writing a book. She will travel to Barbados this month to launch her third book at the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) XV.
The impact of Tobago on her novel cannot be underestimated, and she hopes the book inspires her own people. She explained, “Tobago has always been known to be very clean, green, serene, but in the last few years, we have lost our way in some respects. It’s about refocusing and bringing awareness to the things that have been destroyed over the years, like our coral reefs, which are not that beautiful anymore.
“We have been battling coastal erosion, and there are levels of deforestation, so it’s really about encouraging persons to let us get back to the community spirit and really trying to preserve our pristine island and keep it safe, clean and a peaceful place that we all could benefit from.”
English (US) ·