Karen Barrow

Karen Barrow is the award-winning author of Palmyra, winner of the 2024 Whistler Independent Book Award for Fiction and a finalist for the Guernica Prize, the Page Turner Awards, and the Eric Hoffer Award.

Palmyra is Caribbean Gothic suspense at its most gripping, following the arrival of a mysterious young stranger to a remote cocoa estate in Trinidad. Told through the eyes of a perceptive eleven-year-old boy, it explores family secrets, betrayal, and the dangerous cost of ambition.

Her second novel, Dreams of the Alhambra, released Spring 2026, transports readers to Spain across two timelines: a modern Canadian student recovering from trauma and a 15th-century Moorish princess facing upheaval. A richly layered story of love, identity, and resilience, it blends historical intrigue, romance, and subtle magical realism.

Born in Trinidad and now living in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Karen draws inspiration from her travels and the cultures she encounters, bringing vivid landscapes and richly drawn characters to her fiction. Website karenbarrowbooks