Press & Media
Press Kit
Everything you need for reviews, features, and interviews.
Book Details
- Title
- Secrets of Pagua Bay
- Subtitle
- A Caribbean Mystery
- Author
- Deborah Balthazar
- Genre
- Mystery / Literary Fiction / Caribbean Literature
- Publisher
- Self-published (Amazon KDP)
- Format
- Paperback & Kindle
- Pages
- 80
- Copyright
- 2026 Deborah Balthazar
Author Bio (short)
Deborah Balthazar is a Dominican-born, Toronto-based writer whose debut novel Secrets of Pagua Bay brings the vibrant oral traditions of the Caribbean to the page. Set on the island of Dominica, the novel weaves a mystery of forbidden love, suspicious fire, and a community's fight for truth through voices alive with Dominican Creole. The work draws deeply on Kalinago traditions, the Nine Night funeral custom, and the rich tapestry of Caribbean village life.
One-Line Description
When a forbidden interracial love affair ends in a suspicious fire on the coast of Dominica, an old woman fights to uncover the truth the village conspires to bury.
Key Themes
Suggested Interview Topics
- → How Caribbean oral tradition shapes literary fiction
- → Portraying Kalinago culture and the responsibility that comes with it
- → The Nine Night tradition as both cultural practice and narrative device
- → Self-publishing a Caribbean literary novel: challenges and rewards
- → Race, class, and love in small Caribbean communities
High-res cover available on request