Morgan Wilson had always lived on Grenada. His father left when Morgan was 3. His mother supported them by selling vegetables. While the people on Grenada were very poor, his family was among the poorest. His situation got worse when he was five years old. His mother was killed in an automobile accident. As he kept waiting for her to return, some of the women in the village would feed him. Eventually the government came to take him to an orphanage but the social worker discovered he had an uncle and decided he must live with him despite the uncle’s hut being filthy and the uncle being drunk and violent most of the time.
Morgan began spending more and more time with some of the neighbors, usually the families of his friends. Even though they were very poor and had families of their own, the mothers would often let him eat his meals with them and, sometimes, sleep at their homes. Some merchants would give him food.
School, though, was a different story. Some of the children were from wealthier homes and he was teased and bullied. One day, he cut the sleeve off a shirt to wear as a sock. Some of the students began mocking him. One of the teachers was perceptive and turned it into something positive. “By the afternoon, The students had grown tired of joking about the sock, so they left Morgan alone. But Morgan had not let it go; he continued to think of ways to get back at them- ways that he would never put into action.
Morgan decided to not go to school but to find a way to earn some money. He asked Alden, a fisherman, if he could work for him. It started out part time but turned into a long-lasting, beneficial relationship. Alden gained a good worker and Morgan learned a skill, developed bodily strength as he did.
Alden provided the guidance that Morgan had lacked since the death of his mother. At one point he explained, “The little water not afraid because he don’t think of hisself separate from the sea. Anything that worrying you, man is because you think you is separate. You is part of de sea just like these drops. You is part of Granada just like mountain...You and me, boy, we part of de sea, we part of de rock, we de same spirit, too. Whatever you thinking about, it trouble you because you think you separate–you weak. But you strong, boy, like mountain, like sea.”
When he was eighteen years old, he overheard two Rastafarian men talking about their beliefs and political complaints. Morgan was very interested in what they said. He also saw that they were very dark skinned, like he was, and followed them to their camp.
While there, he also found that some of the younger women were attracted to him, not just teasing him to be mean. While he was used to women going topless, full nudity was a new and stimulating experience.
Later on, a surprise changes his life in a very unusual way.
A HANDFUL OF SEAWATER is a description of life on Grenada where the people are realistic about what they have and what they can do. I was surprised, though, that none of the families stepped up to take Morgan in after his mother’s death or even tell him what had happened. It’s well written and informative. The end of the book tells what the future held for Morgan. ( )