Three novels down, and two more to go before the Bocas Lit Fest.
Once I figured out what was going on in this novel, and it did not take me long, I absolutely fell in love with it...
I loosely read the description of this novel, so when the main character, Jonathan went to meet his parent who left him, I assumed that he was going to meet his dad who left he and his mother. When actually, Jonathan was going to find his other mother, he was being raised by a lesbian couple. And, when he finally finds his mother, she has undergone a sex change and was an elderly man. Yes, you read this right. Not what I was expecting at all, but I truly enjoyed putting the pieces together and falling in love with Jonathan and his mother/father Sidney, formerly known as Sid.
Jonathan finds Sydney living in Trinidad, and he visits this elderly, sickly man to try and get the answers to why did he leave him. Through many conversations and letters, Jonathan is able to put the pieces to Sidney's life together and those pieces helped him to lovingly understand why Sydney left him to never return.
Mootoo does a great job of helping the reader to get a feel for Trinidad and its sense of community and traditions. Reading this book, I felt like I was in Trinidad feeling that warm, sticky air taking a close look into the lives of these characters.
Moot would tell a story and tell more stories, leaving me wanting more.....
This is definitely one to add to your list if you want to get a feel for the Trinidadian culture and meet characters that you will remember for a long time.
When I see Mootoo in Trinidad at the Bocas Lit Fest, I will not ask a lot of questions; I just want to hear her speak. Based on this novel, I know that she has some interesting stories to tell.
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| Shani Mootoo |
I am one novel closer to Trinidad......
My next novel in preparation for the Bocas Lit Fest is Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique.
I can’t wait to start this one!
My people, it feels good to be reading for a purpose.....
2 comments:
I started Tiphanie Yanique's short story collection and am loving every page of it. Unfortunately, last time I checked the list of authors, she was no longer on it :(
Yea, I see that TIphanie has been taken off the list, and I hope that the entire world conspires to get her to the lit fest. SHE CAN TELL A STORY... Absolutely love her book. If my other hobbies weren’t calling my name, I would have spent the entire day reading it for sure.
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