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Sharks in the Time of Saviors

A Novel

Kawai Strong Washburn

Picador

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ISBN10: 1250787319
ISBN13: 9781250787316

Trade Paperback

400 Pages

$18.00

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Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
Finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
Longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award
Shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing

In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends.

Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods—a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy.

When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i—with tragic consequences—they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.

Reviews

Praise for Sharks in the Time of Saviors

Sharks in the Time of Saviors bursts with life. It is bright and beautifully noisy. It’s so good it hurts and hurts to where it heals. It is revelatory and unputdownable. Washburn is an extraordinarily brilliant new talent.”—Tommy Orange, author of There, There

Sharks in the Time of Saviors is the story of a family, a people, and a legend, all wrapped in one. Faith and grief, rage and love, this book pulses with all of it. Kawai Strong Washburn makes his debut with a wealth of talent and a true artist's eye.”—Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling

Sharks in the Time of Saviors is the novel you never knew you were waiting for. Old myths clash with new realities, love is in a ride or die with grief, faith rubs hard against magic, and comic flips with tragic so much they meld into something new. All told with daredevil lyricism to burn. A ferocious debut.”Marlon James, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf

"Sharks in the Time of Saviours is a brilliant novel and one of the most engaging and memorable books I’ve read this year. Sentences sparkle, the narrative voices remain distinctive and complete, and the deep notes of magic sound under the realism of poverty and loss. I didn’t want it to end."Sarah Moss, author of Ghost Wall

“Kawai Strong Washburn has written one of the finest debut novels I’ve read in years, a story about the resilience of family and resilience of home—a story at once lucid, original and transcendent. There is something of a Denis Johnson quality to Washburn’s writing, the way every sentence dances, moves in unexpected ways. Sharks in the Time of Saviors is a piece of magic.”Omar El Akkad, author of American War

“Washburn’s standout debut provides a vivid portrait of Hawaiian identity, mythology, and diaspora . . . a unique and spirited depiction of the 50th state and its children.”Publisher's Weekly

Reviews from Goodreads

BOOK EXCERPTS

Read an Excerpt

1

MALIA, 1995


Honoka‘a

When I Close My Eyes We’re All Still Alive and it becomes obvious then what the gods want from us. The myth people tell about us might start on that liquid blue day off Kona...

About the author

Kawai Strong Washburn

Kawai Strong Washburn was born and raised on the Hamakua coast of the Big Island of Hawai‘i. His work has appeared in Best American Nonrequired Reading, McSweeney’s, and Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, among other outlets. He was a 2015 Tin House Summer Scholar and 2015 Bread Loaf work-study scholar. Today, he lives with his wife and daughters in Minneapolis. Sharks in the Time of Saviors is his first novel.

Crystal Lieppa