Somerset Grove by Dionne Peart

I started reading Somerset Grove on a plane flying to Trinidad, and I finished reading it while lying on Maracas Beach in Trinidad.....

Maracas Beach in Trinidad

This book has everything that it takes to make a great novel: great storyline, memorable characters, and ideal setting. However, by the end of this novel, I was skimming the pages instead of reading them, and I think that it was because Dionne was giving far to many details that did not add to the story. The ending just would not end....

Dionne tells the story of three characters Angelique, Ruby, and Carmen. I was loving the way that she was going from Ruby's story to her daughter’s, Angelique, story. She told their stories in a manner that kept me intrigued on a long flight. However, she introduces Angelique’s daughter, Carmen, and the books starts to go down hill.

Angelique’s character pretty much drives the second half of the novel, and Angelique was such a different character than she was at the beginning of the novel. The behaviors that she started to exhibit were unexpected and almost unrealistic based on the way that Dionne developed this character at the beginning of the novel.

The novel ends with none of the characters having any redemptive qualities, and I think that we all love to see some redemption or full circle growth from characters.

This is Dionne’s first novel, and I absolutely applaud her for having the courage to write a novel. I haven’t given up on her yet, and I believe that her best days as a writer are coming...

In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy Trinidad and the Bocas Lit Fest, and I am also going to start reading Toni Morrison’s much anticipated novel: God Help the Child.