#unburnable

Genre: Fiction, historical

Country: Antigua

Review:

Region: Caribbean

Unburnable

Author: Marie-Elena John

304 pages, published 2006

Original language: English

Native author? Yes

Age: Adult

Blurb:

In this riveting narrative of family, betrayal, vengeance, and murder, Lillian Baptiste is willed back to her island home of Dominica to finally settle her past. Haunted by scandal and secrets, Lillian left Dominica when she was fourteen after discovering she was the daughter of Iris, the half-crazy woman whose life was told of in chanté mas songs sung during Carnival: "Matilda Swinging" and "Bottle of Coke"; songs about the village on a mountaintop and bones and bodies: songs about flying masquerades and a man who dropped dead. Lillian knew the songs well. And now she knows these songs---and thus the history---belong to her. After twenty years away, Lillian returns to face the demons of her past, and with the help of Teddy, the man she refused to love, she will find a way to heal. Set partly in contemporary Washington, D.C., and partly in post-World War II Dominica, Unburnable weaves together West Indian history, African culture, and American sensibilities. Richly textured and lushly rendered, Unburnable showcases a welcome and assured new voice.

Other reps:

Genres: #contemporary #family

My thoughts:

An adult novel about a woman facing her past in Dominica. I couldn’t find anything close to YA for Dominica.

Review to come.

This week’s book was Unburnable by Marie-Elena John of Antigua. The book tells the story of Lillian Baptiste’s return to her childhood home of Dominica and her search for her family’s history. The story moves back and forth through time following Lillian in the present and her mother and grandmother in the past. Eventually, the past is uncovered though the ending is left hanging for the reader to decide.

I enjoyed the book overall, but what really stood out for me was the interesting island history that John weaves into the tale. In the chapters that follow Lillian’s grandmother, there are all kinds of detail about island life and the islands during World War II. Just as interesting is the blending of African and Western cultures. John shows how some African cultures in the New World used Catholicism as a means of meshing old religion onto new beliefs. The stories of Lillian’s grandmother as a kind of medicine woman were my favorite parts of the book.

I think I have been pretty lucky so far. I have genuinely enjoyed all of the books up to this point. Unburnable keeps that streak alive for another week. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about island culture or about West African culture at its source, on the islands, and in America.