Hamilton Reads 2021 - Blaze Island

Miranda lives on a small island in Newfoundland with her father Milan/Alan, a weather scientist living in hiding. When a stranger washes up on their doorstep during a Category 5 hurricane, her world is forever altered. A compelling retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest, Blaze Island is a timely story about environmentalism and community.

“Riveting and morally complex, Blaze Island is a beautiful, kaleidoscopic work that offers a resounding reply to the question of how literature might wrestle with the deepest threat facing the planet, anthropogenic climate change. In the absence of saviours and easy consolation, what Bush has created is an allegory of hubris and humility and an exhilarating space in which to re-imagine multi-species relationships and stories.”

— Kyo Maclear, author of Birds Art Life

Join a book club to discuss Blaze Island or The Tempest.

If you want more reading suggestions with similar themes to those found in our Hamilton Reads 2021 title, Blaze Island by Catherine Bush, watch these Reads We recommend videos in which HPL Staff provide a synopsis of each suggested read. You can also watch Hamilton reads-related events and presentations on the full Hamilton Reads 2021 playlist on YouTube. 

Recommendations and read-a-likes

• Catherine Bush recommends
• Fiction read-a-likes
• Non-fiction read-a-likes
• Movie watch-a-likes
• Watch or read The Tempest