Caribbean Category 5 winds strike the ‘down-low’
A Different Hurricane by award-winning author H. Nigel Thomas
H. Nigel Thomas Nalini Mohabir
Book launch: Thursday, January 30 at Argo Bookshop
Insightful book readings and Q&A: H. Nigel Thomas in conversation with Nalini Mohabir
MONTREAL, January 2025 – Gordon and Allan, the male protagonists in award-winning author H. Nigel Thomas’ novel A Different Hurricane, have been friends from early childhood and, from age 17–29, lovers. To feign being heterosexual and avoid being social pariahs or jailed, they marry Maureen and Beth. For years the couple mask successfully. Trouble comes in the form of Maureen’s journal, revealed after her death… The book launch with prolific author H. Nigel Thomas in conversation with author and Concordia Professor Nalini Mohabir is at Argo Bookshop on January 30 at 7pm.
This is Thomas’ 14th book and his most personal. “A Different Hurricane is the product of memories that haunt me: a woman shot dead by her boyfriend when she caught him having sex with a man; two men on the ‘down-low’ who along with their wives, died of AIDS; a man I once dated who gave me a false name and insisted that his wife was his sister; and my own almost-marriage,” shared the author. Though he has been publishing since 1988, this was a difficult book for Thomas to write. “After the third draft with Gordon as the single narrator, I let it sit for a couple of years before adding Maureen’s voice. Readers now witness both sides of this story; the anger, the rationalizations, the forgiveness. What I want is for this book to keep up the pressure for LGBTQ+ rights; to sustain the discussion, especially in parts of the world that need it most.”
A Different Hurricane climaxes in September 2017 while Hurricane Irma is battering the Caribbean. The story takes place in Montreal and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines where as recently as February 16, 2024 the High Court reaffirmed the criminalization of same-sex practices to the jubilation of the religious zealots and self-appointed morality squads, whose specious mission is ‘to protect our children from gays’. Same-sex sexual activity between men as well as women carries sentences of up to 10 years in prison. A longer synopsis of the novel can be found here- hnigelthomas.org/2024/12/05/a-different-hurricane-synopsis/.
From Kwame Fraser, former publisher of Dundurn Press: “A Different Hurricane is an urgent work that I, as a Jamaican-Canadian editor, fought hard to acquire. I firmly believe that this story needs to be told. LGBTQ+ individuals in the Caribbean are often forced to live and love in secret, facing sometimes violent reprisal for simply existing. This situation will only change when we Caribbean people change the narratives we have about sexuality. Nigel’s literary intervention is not only socially and politically necessary but also a gripping and unforgettable read that will stand the test of time.”
Meghan Macdonald is Dundurn Press’ publisher: “H. Nigel Thomas is one of Canada’s most important writers; Dundurn Press is honoured to publish his work. A Different Hurricane is a love story, with the relationship of the two main characters set against a world where prejudice and hate force them down a tragic and climactic path. The world needs to look at stories like this with honesty and clear eyes, and fiction has always been a powerful medium to teach us about ourselves. Nigel’s voice is a vital one, and everyone at Dundurn Press is excited to see where A Different Hurricane takes its readers.”
Praise for A Different Hurricane
“Dispassionate and yet profoundly engaged, A Different Hurricane is a generational saga in which emotions and their consequent behaviours are Category 5 winds surging about an eye of enforced inauthenticity, causing catastrophic damage, shattering homes, destroying dreams. Superb at creating landscapes and fathoming the manners and mores of Caribbean-island societies, master storyteller H. Nigel Thomas continues his decades-long project of exploring how gay men from small places risk life and limb to discover how to be themselves in the world. A book to read and read again.”
Pamela Mordecai, author of A Fierce Green Place
“Told from multiple points of view, this novel offers a portrait of a queer protagonist—husband, father, friend, lover—never before seen in the pages of Caribbean literature.”
Faizal Deen, author of Land Without Chocolate
“This novel quietly, unflinchingly traverses the cruelties and consequences of ignorance, enforced secrets, violence, and shame, but never forsakes the possibilities of love.”
Thomas Glave, two-time Lambda laureate and author of The Blood People
“Even as Thomas describes the strictures that cripple his characters’ choices, his love for the rhythms and sounds of life in Saint Vincent shines through.” Alice Zorn, author of Five Roses
“In this powerful novel, H. Nigel Thomas reminds us that shame is an outcome of an intolerant society, but friendship, forgiveness, and ultimately, love are choices that each of us has the power to make.”
Charles I. Nero PHD, Benjamin E. Mays 2020 Distinguished Professor, Bates College
Goodreads reviews
H. Nigel Thomas is a Vincentian Canadian and the author of dozens of essays and fourteen books, as well as the recipient of many awards including the 2013 Université Laval Homage aux créateurs, the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award, the 2021 QWF Judy Mappin Community Award, the 2022 Canada Council for the Arts John Molson Prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts, and twice shortlisted for the Hugh McLennan Prize for Fiction. Nigel is the editor of Kola Magazine and co-hosts, with human rights advocate Maguy Métellus, the Lectures LOGOS Readings, a series of monthly multicultural readings. Early bio here- hnigelthomas.org/2014/03/02/334/
Nalini Mohabir is an associate Professor in Geography, Planning, and Environment at Concordia University. Her research focuses on the Caribbean and its diaspora. She is co-editor (with Ronald Cummings) of The Fire That Time: Transnational Black Radicalism and the Sir George Williams Occupation (Black Rose, 2021).
A Different Hurricane book launch Thursday, January 30, 2025, 7pm
Author H. Nigel Thomas in conversationwith Nalini Mohabir, including readings, Q&A and signings
Argo Bookshop,1841-A Sainte-Catherine St. west, refreshments served
Published by Dundurn Press, ISBN: 9781459754065 | 256 pages (no tax at all until Feb. 15) Publication January 14, 2025
To attend the launch (free): H. Nigel Thomas, In Conversation with Nalini Mohabir at Argo Bookshop
