Where Time Begins: A Novel

Shelley Illouette, unemployed and without prospects, takes a job in the Kingdom of Tonga, where she is adopted by Foeata and meets Jackson, a mysterious half-Tongan actress. When Lily goes missing, Shelley realizes that she has not escaped from anything but has brought all the confusion of life with her. She untangles a web of stories reaching back decades, leading her to conclude that Tonga may indeed be the place where time begins.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 05 July 2022
Publisher: She Writes Press

1976 saw the arrival of Shelley Ilillouette in the Kingdom of Tonga, an unemployed and aimless individual who had never heard of the place before. However, when an artist offered her a job in this South Pacific kingdom, she decided to take it. Upon her arrival, she discovered that her employer had vanished, leaving her alone in a bewildering world where ancient Polynesia mingled with missionaries, Peace Corps volunteers, and yacht dwellers. Foeata, a friendly Tongan, took pity on Shelley and decided that a mafu, a sweetheart, would solve her problems. Foeata favored the Peace Corps doctor, Skip, but Skip was smitten with Lily, a mysterious half-Tongan actress. Jackson, Shelley's first and only lover, followed her to the islands, and life only became more complicated. When Lily went missing, too, and Jackson's visit proved disastrous, Shelley had to admit that she had not escaped from anything; she had just brought all the confusion of life with her. Foeata wondered why Americans were so bad at love, and Shelley untangled a web of stories reaching back decades, leading her to conclude that Tonga may indeed be what its king had proclaimed: the place where time begins.

Weight: 484g
Dimension: 141 x 215 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781647424138