Harare Review of Books

248 pages.

Expected publication date: Aug 1, 2023 (Red Hen Press)

Fiction.

This is a book about families, migration and the Caribbean, set at the time of Hurricane Maria, with flashbacks to mid-century Dominica. Hector Peterson travels back from the US to Dominica with his father to lay his mother to rest, and on that trip he tries to learn about his parents’ hidden history there, and to process the mistakes he’s made in his own life.

I enjoyed learning about Dominican history, culture and society through the lives of Hector’s family members, as well as their new lives as migrants in the US. However, I don’t feel the structure of the novel worked very well, because I was sometimes lost in trying to piece together Hector’s family history from the narrated events—the main theme of the book—and the constant switching of time from the past to the present and back again interrupted the story. However, this was still a very enjoyable read because of the colourful characters and settings.

Thank you to Red Hen Press and to Edelweiss for this DRC.