There is no suspense in Hart Tillett’s latest book, The Reef Afire; we know who the heroes are, and that they will win. We can be happy, or disappointed, that the heroes are a lot more civilized than the crowd Admiral Burnaby met when he landed here in 1785 to formulate a set of laws, Burnaby’s Code, to bring order and decency to the settlement in the Bay of Honduras.
Lack of suspense and attitudes on deportment aside, the book has some wonderful attributes. Tillett scores with his exquisite descriptions of people, events, places, and things in our region. The Reef Afire is an enjoyable read for adults, and a must read for students who will benefit immensely from the author’s knowledge, fabulous vocabulary and ease with the English language.
The Reef Afire, a novel, is a sequel to Exiles No More, which is a story about the people of a semi-fictitious land called Brickland, and their existential decision in 1797 to defend their settlement in the Bay of Honduras from an imminent invasion from the Spaniards who were ruling Mexico at the time.
Some of the prominent heroes of The Reef Afire are British Loyalists who fled the USA after the Americans won their independence from Great Britain in 1783. Among them is a Welshman, Nathan Axsmith, who became a seaman after the executors of his father’s estate robbed him of his fortune. Axsmith’s great qualities are his seamanship and pluck, and his great human virtue, considering the period, is his love and respect for all mankind, including the free coloreds and slaves in Brickland.
The leader of the enemy is the Viceroy of Merida, Guillermo “Mojé” Reinaldo O’Connell de Fitzgerald, an Irish boy turned Spaniard after the British parliament confiscated his father’s estate. Mojé’s mission is to make the British pay for the wrong they did to his family. After distinguishing himself in the Spanish Navy, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral in the elite Hibernia Regiment, he is near retirement and his final blow for his adopted country will be to drive the British from the settlement in Brickland. He also has a personal vendetta, a score to settle with Axsmith for an event at sea in 1783.
The Reef Afire takes us through the steps of building unity after the decisive vote in 1797. All, including those who voted to flee the land, the women, the slaves, had to be onboard for the defense of Brickland. It also takes us through the military preparations for the battle, the brilliant strategy that will be needed to save Brickland when the eventful day came, the 10th of September 1798, the day when the invaders fighting under the Red and Gold of the King of Spain turned their cannons upon our shores.
Some of us would have wished for the slaves to have played a greater role in saving Brickland, but we will content ourselves that we had a hand in it, and so did our Mayan and Mestizo and free colored brothers and sisters. The Reef Afire, like its companion novel, Exiles No More, makes for a wonderful evening of reading while stretched out in a hammock hung between two buttonwood trees.
Both books will be launched on September 5th 2019, at the George Price Centre in Belmopan, at 5:30 in the evening.