Camino Ghosts

The first section reintroduces Mercer and Bruce, key characters in John Grisham’s Camino series, establishing a new stage in their relationship. Mercer is marrying her longtime boyfriend, Thomas, and Bruce (her former lover) is officiating the ceremony, indicating that their connection has evolved into a strong friendship. Mercer navigates life as a newly best-selling author after her successful novel Tessa, while still working as a creative writing professor. Bruce remains a successful bookseller on Camino Island, and his bookstore is a central hub of the local community. The friendship between the two characters drives the story forward, as Bruce helps Mercer overcome her writer’s block. She struggles to find an idea for her third book, something that would bring her closer to her dream of becoming a full-time writer. When Bruce introduces her to the story of Dark Isle and Lovely Jackson’s memoir, Mercer finds a new literary inspiration and is absorbed by the history of enslavement, which she knew little about. As the story unfolds, Mercer and Bruce’s involvement in Dark Isle further illuminates their characters through their profound connection to of Camino Island environment. Simultaneously, Grisham introduces an ensemble of other characters who share key roles in the story, using an omniscient narrator to support this choice.

This section establishes Grisham’s intention of Reckoning with the Dark Historical Past as the text explores the history of enslavement and its legacy in a contemporary social context. Through Nalla’s character, the novel illustrates the dehumanizing experience of enslaved Africans, especially the white enslavers’ physical and sexual abuse of the African women they captured. Vivid visual imagery illustrates Nalla’s violent abduction from her village in Kongo and her traumatizing separation from her family: “She screamed for her little boy and when she could not stop screaming, an attacker struck her with a club. She fell down and felt blood on her jaw” (14). The text discusses the women’s traumatic experience of sexual assault, emphasizing the issue of rape. After chaining the women and abducting them from their village, the white enslavers frequently raped the African women, who were “shaking” and “trembling.” The onomatopoeia emphasizes both the emotional terror and the physical abuse of Black women during the trade in enslaved African people. By exploring this experience of “the passage,” Grisham infuses elements of historical fiction into the story, conveying the necessity of confronting the traumatic historical past and engaging the reader in exploring the history of enslavement in the US.

This section introduces Lovely, who becomes the heart of the story and expands Grisham’s storytelling beyond the boundaries of courtroom drama. Bruce talks to Mercer about Lovely, an elderly Black woman who resides on Camino Island and authored a self-published memoir about Dark Isle’s history, which directly connects to Nalla, her great-grandmother, and the history of enslavement. Lovely lives alone, without a family; Dark Isle is “sacred” for her, the resting place of her ancestors who “shed tears and blood” to claim it (69). Because Lovely is the last descendant of the enslaved Black people who lived on the island, her claim as the rightful owner of Dark Isle places her at the center of the dramatic conflict. She resolves to protect Dark Isle, and her views on land ownership contrast those of the powerful and rich developers whom she must battle. Despite her age, she’s a strong figure, determined to fight for her ancestral land, empowered by her historical past and cultural values. Highlighting Lovely’s unique character and perspective, Grisham interrogates the issue of land ownership and emphasizes the importance of cultural heritage and historical legacy.

Lovely’s memoir emphasizes her connection with her cultural heritage, introducing one of the novel’s main themes, The Cultural Power of Storytelling. Using a “simple writing style” (13), the memoir tells Nalla’s story and the history of the island’s self-emancipated community of Black people. Lovely’s attempt to preserve her ancestors’ history and culture is a testament to her identity and an attempt to counter cultural erasure. The memoir becomes a key element in the story, inspiring Mercer to pen her next book. Mercer finds the story “compelling” and “more interesting than most of the hyped debut novels she’d read” (13). The memoir opens a new horizon for Mercer as a person and author as she decides to rewrite Lovely’s story and situate it in a contemporary context. Both narratives are crucial to the story’s resolution.

In this context, the novel introduces another of its main themes, The Conflict Between Development and Preservation, as well as the story’s antagonist, Tidal Breeze, a ruthless development corporation. Tension builds as Tidal Breeze plans to develop a huge resort called Panther Cay, which promises to bring prosperity to Camino Island but endanger Dark Isle’s historical and cultural significance, its future, and it environment. Grisham establishes the issue of corruption and power abuse as key negative behaviors of corporations, which enhances the novel’s legal thriller style. Tidal Breeze has a “long history of broken promises, failed projects, and environmental abuses” (39), which Bruce and Lovely know about. Bruce’s suggestions that Tidal Breeze covertly collaborates with senators to evade taxation and promote the resort indicate the forces that the protagonists must battle. This issue of corporate and state corruption, emerging from the dubious relationship between Tidal Breeze and state politicians, endangers environmental and cultural preservation in favor of capitalist development. Therefore, the main characters must collectively summon their powers to counter Tidal Breeze’s destructive plans.

The emerging symbols of Dark Isle and Nalla’s curse interact to enrich Grisham’s exploration of the historical legacy of enslavement and the importance of preserving sites that have cultural significance. As Bruce mentions, Dark Isle is an isolated and “deserted” island that once was a refuge for self-emancipated people, including Lovely’s great-grandmother Nalla. Dark Isle became a space where Black people claimed their freedom from their white enslavers, establishing a self-determined community even though the harsh environment was a challenging place to live. Because the island remains undeveloped, it becomes a target for Tidal Breeze. However, Dark Isle’s history remains haunting and mystical, connecting to Nalla’s curse, which poses an obstacle to any development attempt on the island. After Nalla encountered her white enslaver and rapist on the beach following the shipwreck, she killed him in an act of revenge and justice. Her subsequent ritual, alluding to traditional African “voodoo” rituals, creates a “curse” that keeps white men away from the island, guaranteeing their death should they even set foot on Dark Isle. This indicates the ways people resist oppression and alludes to the ongoing impact of the island’s traumatic history.