ABOUT
THE BOOK

Memory and desire – and how the two can be mistaken for each other – are the themes of this magical novel set in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kinau’s husband has been gone for five years, and with another woman. But then a bizarre incident brings Ivan back, and a new chain of passion and leave-taking spins itself out. Kinau’s life is shaped by the stories and energy of her mother (a woman of many husbands) and by the continuously hovering and jealous presence of the gods. Revenge for a boy’s accidental death calls for a bounty on sharks and results in a fishing frenzy. Tidal waves have struck and will strike again, and a volcano carries its own portentous message. Lava is Pamela Ball’s first novel: she was born and raised in Oahu, Hawaii.