The Jumbee Pamela Keyes
After her father dies of cancer, Esti and her mother move down to her father's house on the island of Cariba. Esti's father was a renowned Shakespearean actor and Esti has long feared having her own career in his shadow. Cariba's high school has an excellent theater program that Esti hopes will launch her in her own right. In the theater she is coached by someone she cannot see and no one else can hear. Most inhabitants of Cariba say the theater is haunted. Is Esti's acting coach really the Jumbee everyone is talking about?
This is an excellent retelling of Phantom of the Opera with a liberal dose of Shakespeare. I loved the modern high school setting. I also really liked the West Indies setting-- Keyes has lived in the Caribbean and captures the physical beauty of the islands as well the culture well. I liked the insight into things like how one scares away evil spirits or enters another's home but also the tensions on the island with its slave and sugar plantation past as well as tension between island natives and wealthy interlopers from the US. Keyes strikes the right balance of tragic and creepy with Alan's character. Because it's a retelling, I knew how it was going to end, but Keyes keeps the suspense up so well and had me si invested in the characters that I kept turning the pages faster and faster to see how it would play out.
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Publisher: Penguin Group (October 14, 2010)
Hardcover: 400 Pages
Book from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc.
Seventeen-year-old Esti Legard spent her childhood in the Shakespearean world of her famous father, and when he died, she knew she could never give up acting. After she and her mother move to a Caribbean island for her senior year, she realizes that nothing at her new school's theater department is quite as it seems. Stunned by the death of a fellow student on her first day of class, Esti is soon surrounded by legends of the wicked jumbees that haunt the West Indies. She finds herself snubbed by the school’s star actress and relegated to a minor part in Romeo and Juliet.
Only her intriguing new friend, the elusive Alan, shares her passion for Shakespeare. Hiding in the dark recesses of the theater, he leads Esti deep into her own soul to explore the limits of her talent. When Esti's childhood best friend moves to the island and back into her life, however, Alan disappears. Rocked by growing accusations of befriending a jumbee, Esti realizes she must find out who – or what – Alan really is. She is soon forced to defy everyone and everything she’s ever believed in, as she plunges into the mysteries of Shakespeare and the legends of the West Indians, discovering shocking truths about her own past that will forever shape her future. (Source)
Review
THE JUMBEE, by Pamela Keyes, is a Caribbean-flavored Phantom of the Opera-esque book filled with mystery, romance, and intrigue. I have read many books with PotO roots and I pretty much loved them all so I was extremely excited to read
The Jumbee.
I loved the West Indie environment for this book. I enjoyed learning about the culture and the people's fascination, if not repulsion, with the local jumbees (ghosts). The atmosphere that the locals created was interesting and definitely pulled me into the book.
Since PotO is one of my favorite stories I was excited to find all the similarities from the original, and there were many (which excited me more). I loved Keyes twist on one of my favorite stories and she really did it justice. Esti was the typical Christine in her obsession with the theater and trying to create a name for herself outside her father. But her obsession with his death created the attachment to the Phantom, who in this case was Alan. Alan was an enchanting man and I desperately wanted to know his secret. Keyes stretched my imagination outside of PotO and created a new and unique world which was enchanting and utterly breathtaking. Rafe was the typical Raoul (perfect, handsome, rugged..etc.) and I was curious to see how Keyes would develop this relationship. And I was pleased.
Overall, this was a great read. I enjoyed the different environment of the story and the new essence brought to this story. Any fan of Phantom of the Opera will definitely love this book.
For more info, check out Pamela Keyes'
website 
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The Jumbee (Pamela Keyes) Review as of 1/1/1900
