An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude

An Embarrassment of Mangoes is infused with warmth, color, and flavor. As if the vivid descriptions of local markets (you can smell the fruit), ancient rum distilleries, and exploration via the local buses aren't enough, the variety of characters she meets bring the islands to life.

Best, Vanderhoof and her husband are easy to identify with. They took their midlife break on a sailboat. She relates challenges and experiences with a humor that non-sailors will enjoy, and a level of detail that I'm sure sailors will appreciate. But her trip is no near-death escapade. These are real people on an achievable adventure, doing something all of us could do. Vanderhoof steers us off the beaten path to sample real life, deftly capturing the local food, music, language and, most of all, the Caribbean spirit.

"Ann of a Thousand Deadlines" (as she calls her former self) never admits bravery, but her will to leave a good job and the comfort of everyday life for two years shows real courage. The book and its premise are compelling. The recipes at the end of each chapter are a bonus (my wife has already baked the Spicy Island Gingerbread).

I want to go. Now that I have read An Embarrassment of Mangoes, I feel I have gone.

As the review on the book cover says, "what travel writing is all about." Give this one an unarguable five stars.


You'll want to savor every page of this enchanting book!   January 25, 2004
Bookreporter.com (New York, New York)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

For the stressed out and winter-weary comes this transporting memoir that will appeal directly to escapist fantasies about leaving the work world behind and taking up residence in the nearest tropical locale. In AN EMBARRASSMENT OF MANGOES, the author and her husband do just that, and this enchanting, sun-drenched book intimately chronicles their life-changing two-year odyssey around the Caribbean aboard their sailboat Receta.

Prior to the trip, Ann and Steve Vanderhoof were driven, forty-something professionals whose lives were dominated by demanding careers and a seemingly endless string of deadlines. This, coupled with their increasing weariness of harsh Toronto winters, made them long for a different way of life --- one that was far removed from overstuffed day timers and driveways that needed shoveling. Their escape fantasy began to form into a full-fledged action plan of penny pinching and preparation that eventually enabled them to live out their dream.

After setting sail, the cruising life quickly seduces them as they discover the pleasures of living one day at a time and basking in simple delights such as fiery sunsets, freshly caught seafood and ice cold Presidente beers. But life onboard the boat isn't always smooth sailing as new challenges quickly take the place of old workaday worries: Tropical storms, perilous ocean crossings, the frequent threat of hurricanes and the daily struggle of living in tiny quarters with another human being for months on end are just a few of the trip's hazards. Nonetheless, the trade-off in exchange for a whole new way of life proves to be more than worth it.

During their two-year voyage of discovery, the Vanderhoofs cover 7,000 nautical miles and explore forty-seven Caribbean islands, stretching from the Bahamas to as far south as Grenada. More than just tourists, they immerse themselves in the hypnotic rhythms of Caribbean life and culture, befriending the locals and soaking up the distinct music, flavors and essence of each port of call.

Vanderhoof's particular passion for cooking infuses the text with a cacophony of delicious tastes and smells from the savory island dishes that she and her husband encounter, many of which she recreates in the ship's tiny galley using a variety of indigenous local ingredients discovered along the way. Peppered throughout the book are the results of her culinary explorations in the form of authentic, mouth-watering recipes for local specialties such as Bahamian cracked conch and West Indian rum punch. In addition to the gastronomic pleasures offered up, the profusion of sights, sounds and colors that leap from the page provide a veritable feast for the senses as well.

Indeed, the book's biggest strength lies in Vanderhoof's extraordinary powers of description and her ability to make us feel as though we, too, are there. Under the spell of her ripe, evocative prose we can easily call to mind the heady perfume of mangoes in a marketplace, the sweet taste of fresh coconut milk on a hot day, and the dazzling colors of a Caribbean sunset streaked against a turquoise horizon. Interwoven with the sensuous depictions of lush scenery are the author's richly textured portraits of the colorful island inhabitants and fascinating snippets of local lore. Each of the islands has a distinct and varied personality, which Vanderhoof captures with beautiful lucidity.

She uses this same keen blend of awareness and insight to chronicle the transformations that she and her husband undergo during the journey. As they overcome challenges, gain new skills and face their fears, their nervousness gives way to confidence and they grow in ways that they never could have imagined back home. In fully giving themselves over to a new way of life, their voyage becomes as much one of personal discovery as one of cultural and culinary adventure. This winning combination is what makes this island-by-island, meal-by-meal guide to the Caribbean so delicious to savor.

--- Reviewed by Joni Rendon