Sandra Hardy

Roots As Strong As a Mango Tree Sandra Hardy

Seventeen-year-old Victoria Pickersgill, the only child of an upper middle class Jamaican couple, finds her idyllic life turned upside down when her family suffers a tragic loss. That seminal moment in her life is eclipsed, however, when she discovers that her parents have been keeping a shocking secret. At first, she wants to learn more but is quickly overwhelmed by what she finds. Hiding a deep-seated shame, she decides to put it all behind her in the same tight-lipped tradition of her family. When she meets Stephen Blake, a handsome, self-confident boy, she falls devotedly in love with him. But Stephen has a secret of his own that brings their relationship to a sudden end, devastating Victoria. Surprisingly it is Jean King, the family's housekeeper, who becomes her anchor, guiding her until she leaves for college with the goal of leaving her demons behind. But the past intrudes on the present. Stephen comes back into her life six years after breaking her heart, determined to get her back. And new revelations regarding that long buried secret, forces Victoria to ask herself if it's possible to chart her future if she cannot face her past.