The Gates of Morning

A bright lagoon rings a forty‑mile coral reef, its calm waters cradling the island of Karolin where a whole community lives off the sea. When Dick—known locally as Taori—steps ashore, the villagers look to him as a figure sent by the gods, a new chief to guide them after years of loss. Children dart among the fishing nets while women tend the beach, all under the watchful eyes of the endless blue horizon.

Taori’s own story is a tangle of shipwreck, a lonely boy raised by an old sailor, and a mysterious girl named Katafa who taught him the island’s language. Together they fled a violent raid on a distant island, carrying only a handful of tiny hand‑made ships. Now, standing on the sand, he must decide how much of that past to share with a curious child who asks, “Who are you?”

The novel unfolds as a lyrical exploration of memory, belonging, and the fragile balance between myth and reality in a world where the sea both sustains and threatens.