Book description
Who hasn't fantasized about leaving their job, saying goodbye to the
rat race and escaping to some exotic destination in search of sun,
sand, and a different way of life? Ann Vanderhoof and her husband did
just that.
In the mid 1990s, the author and her husband were driven,
forty-something professionals who were desperate for a break from
their harried, deadline-dominated lives. So they left their jobs,
rented out their house, moved onto a 42-foot yacht called Receta
('recipe' in Spanish) and set sail from their home in Canada for the
Caribbean. AN EMBARRASSMENT OF MANGOES is Ann Vanderhoof's intimate
account of this two-year midlife interlude during which she and her
husband travelled more than 7,000 nautical miles, dropped anchor in 16
countries (and 47 individual islands), and adapted to a new life on
'island time'.
Exchanging suits for bare feet, they leave the stresses of their old
life behind and become caught up in a world that is simultaneously
simpler and more exuberant. They sip rum with their neighbours and
dance through the streets during Carnival, explore secluded beaches,
learn to pull their dinner from the sea and create delectable dishes
in their tiny galley kitchen.
Interspersed with irresistible recipes, from cracked conch in the
Bahamas, curried lobster in Grenada, spicy island gingerbread to West
Indian rum punch, AN EMBARRASSMENT OF MANGOES is the enticing story of
discovering not just vibrant new cultures and cuisines, but what
really matters.
Ann Vanderhoof is a writer and magazine and book editor whose work
has appeared in publications in the United States and Canada. She was
the founding editor of the award-winning Canadian magazine
Cottage Life
and is also the senior editor of Ports Cruising Guides, a series of
guidebooks for boaters. She lives in Toronto.
