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Buxton Spice
Lula grows up in a racially mixed family in the peaceful village of Tamarind Grove, Guyana, during the 1970s, until the repressive regime of Guyana's dictator spreads its tentacles into the town as tensions among the villagers begin to fester. A first novel. Reprint.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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468 people want to read
About the author
Oonya Kempadoo
13 books20 followersOonya Kempadoo is a writer who was born in Sussex, England in 1966 of Guyanese parents. She was brought up in Guyana and has since lived in Europe and various islands in the Caribbean.
Her first novel, Buxton Spice, was published to great acclaim in 1998, and was nominated for the 2000 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her second book, Tide Running (Picador, 2001), set in Plymouth, Tobago, is the story of young brothers Cliff and Ossie.
Oonya Kempadoo has studied art in Amsterdam and has lived in Trinidad, St. Lucia, Tobago, and now lives in Grenada.
She was named a Great Talent for the Twenty-First Century by the Orange Prize judges and is a winner of the Casa de las Americas Prize.
Her first novel, Buxton Spice, was published to great acclaim in 1998, and was nominated for the 2000 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her second book, Tide Running (Picador, 2001), set in Plymouth, Tobago, is the story of young brothers Cliff and Ossie.
Oonya Kempadoo has studied art in Amsterdam and has lived in Trinidad, St. Lucia, Tobago, and now lives in Grenada.
She was named a Great Talent for the Twenty-First Century by the Orange Prize judges and is a winner of the Casa de las Americas Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
July 28, 2019
This is the first book I've read by an author from Guyana. What made this book so special was the voice of the young narrator Lula, a teenage girl who tries to make sense of the world she lives in, her emergent sexuality and the confusing politics that invade and divide the people in her village. But most of all, I enjoyed her voice describing the lush surroundings and her connection with nature:
'I told him bout what I was reading - how people can communicate with each other without talking. But also if you listen, you can hear the whole Universe talking.' ... 'I was on my way to the seawall to sit and her the clouds talking.' ... 'The best part is when the whole sky, the blue part and the sun, join in. And sunset time, when it starts getting all mixed up, changing voices and colours, when Breeze sings softly.'
'Told him how in the night, from the upstairs window, the silver tops of the coconut tree talk to me. They swish and sway and whisper with scratchy voices.'
'I told him bout what I was reading - how people can communicate with each other without talking. But also if you listen, you can hear the whole Universe talking.' ... 'I was on my way to the seawall to sit and her the clouds talking.' ... 'The best part is when the whole sky, the blue part and the sun, join in. And sunset time, when it starts getting all mixed up, changing voices and colours, when Breeze sings softly.'
'Told him how in the night, from the upstairs window, the silver tops of the coconut tree talk to me. They swish and sway and whisper with scratchy voices.'
October 20, 2015
Three things about this book:
First, why are Caribbean writers still doing the 'impressions of childhood' thing? This was thoroughly done in the 1950s by the pioneers of Caribbean writing - Edgar Mittelholzer, VS Naipaul, Michael Anthony, George Lamming, Sam Selvon, etc.
Second, Oonya Kempadoo has written a very slight work, short on plot, and also short on words. Is it a brief memoir of her childhood in Guyana? Or is it a novel? I suspect the former.
Third, the level of violence, especially sexual violence, makes this a rather unpleasant read. This aspect of Caribbean life has been explored in earlier works and it feels depressing that, by 1998, there was nothing more to say about Guyana than this.
That said, the style of writing is quite vivid and anyone unfamiliar with Caribbean literature might not be quite so picky as me. However, I would recommend early VS Naipaul - Miguel Street - or Merle Hodge's Crick Crack Monkey or George Lamming's In the Castle of My Skin as much more accomplished and rounded works of literature than this rather slight offering from Kempadoo.
First, why are Caribbean writers still doing the 'impressions of childhood' thing? This was thoroughly done in the 1950s by the pioneers of Caribbean writing - Edgar Mittelholzer, VS Naipaul, Michael Anthony, George Lamming, Sam Selvon, etc.
Second, Oonya Kempadoo has written a very slight work, short on plot, and also short on words. Is it a brief memoir of her childhood in Guyana? Or is it a novel? I suspect the former.
Third, the level of violence, especially sexual violence, makes this a rather unpleasant read. This aspect of Caribbean life has been explored in earlier works and it feels depressing that, by 1998, there was nothing more to say about Guyana than this.
That said, the style of writing is quite vivid and anyone unfamiliar with Caribbean literature might not be quite so picky as me. However, I would recommend early VS Naipaul - Miguel Street - or Merle Hodge's Crick Crack Monkey or George Lamming's In the Castle of My Skin as much more accomplished and rounded works of literature than this rather slight offering from Kempadoo.
May 2, 2023
When a book lacks a plot, it really has to rely on its characterisation and prose, and neither is doing much lifting here. This isn't a novel so much as it is a vaguely connected series of vignettes centered on a girl coming of age in a small town in Guyana sometime in the 60s. There are some nice descriptions of the natural world, personalisation of trees and shadows, but other than that there's just not a lot here. I can already feel myself forgetting Buxton Spice.
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Global Challenge: Guyana
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Global Challenge: Guyana
February 21, 2022
3.5 stars
The setting of Guyana was what drew me to this book and Oonya Kempadoo really conjures up a portrait of the country, even if only in one small town. Lula is a young girl who lives in the town of Tamarind Grove and is experiencing the first stirrings of her body changing, of attempting to understand the world around her under Forbes Burnham and his PNC party while at the same time just doing the things kids love to do like climb and talk to trees -Buxton Spice is a type of mango trees- steal fruit and tease people they don't understand. Right from the opening scene where her house is described you get this lush language that is evocative of the heat, the light, the tropical foliage and the ocean as well as the dust and mud and poverty that many of the inhabitants live in.
She describes the different communities of the country whether Black or Indian, the light skinned Portuguese inhabitants and the racism that can exist between all these groups when it comes to mixed relationships. Lulu and her friends compare their bodies and the boys they like and there is a great chapter where Lulu talks about man-self, how this is manifested in the men that she knows but also in the women. She is a tomboy and can't understand why she can't do everything a boy can while her friend Sammy embraces her femininity as she sees its power. There are also references to those who are 'Away', who have moved to the USA or Canada and how this is the ultimate status symbol for the family who are left behind.
The novel starts off in a light tone with pranks and a life constantly spent outside, but gradually darker elements intrude, the beating of kids by their parents by way of discipline, people disappearing or getting put in jail by the PNC for no reason, a woman found dead in the mud, things that adults can't shield the children from. It's a really effective portrayal of a place and time seen through the eyes of a young girl but I admit I struggle with novels written from a child's perspective and so couldn't really appreciate it as much as I suspect others have and will.
The setting of Guyana was what drew me to this book and Oonya Kempadoo really conjures up a portrait of the country, even if only in one small town. Lula is a young girl who lives in the town of Tamarind Grove and is experiencing the first stirrings of her body changing, of attempting to understand the world around her under Forbes Burnham and his PNC party while at the same time just doing the things kids love to do like climb and talk to trees -Buxton Spice is a type of mango trees- steal fruit and tease people they don't understand. Right from the opening scene where her house is described you get this lush language that is evocative of the heat, the light, the tropical foliage and the ocean as well as the dust and mud and poverty that many of the inhabitants live in.
She describes the different communities of the country whether Black or Indian, the light skinned Portuguese inhabitants and the racism that can exist between all these groups when it comes to mixed relationships. Lulu and her friends compare their bodies and the boys they like and there is a great chapter where Lulu talks about man-self, how this is manifested in the men that she knows but also in the women. She is a tomboy and can't understand why she can't do everything a boy can while her friend Sammy embraces her femininity as she sees its power. There are also references to those who are 'Away', who have moved to the USA or Canada and how this is the ultimate status symbol for the family who are left behind.
The novel starts off in a light tone with pranks and a life constantly spent outside, but gradually darker elements intrude, the beating of kids by their parents by way of discipline, people disappearing or getting put in jail by the PNC for no reason, a woman found dead in the mud, things that adults can't shield the children from. It's a really effective portrayal of a place and time seen through the eyes of a young girl but I admit I struggle with novels written from a child's perspective and so couldn't really appreciate it as much as I suspect others have and will.
February 28, 2020
I loved the colorful introduction to a new place for me, but I actually had trouble understanding it; not the place, culture, language, though that too, but the whole concept of the adolescent fascination with bodies and sex. For me, I just didn’t experience it. I could have cared less. Nudity was no big deal, though not flaunted, in my childhood home, and sex was something to be wary of unless you were ready and able to care for a child (something I’ve never felt ready for). So I ignored both sex and bodies, and have never understood the interest it generates for others.
Thus this book was both a revelation and a confusion. Despite that, or because of it, for the most part, I’m glad I read it.
I will add that the hints of the political situation, which the readers get only toward the end, caught my attention immediately. I would love to find out that Kempadoo has written a book with that more the focus.
Glossary (needing definitions) in order of appearance
Tentesse: Middle bedroom had a bunk bed and some tentesse shelves, packed with my brother’s things – wires, pieces of radio. (4)
Ginch: He ginched and giggled jerkily. (9)
Cock-a-dung-guts: burnt my neck-back as I checked the cock-a-dung-guts fish in the open drain along our fence. (20)
Yowaris: Yowaris lived in it. (32)
And DeAbros is Putagee, an dey living here too? (59) Say what?
Down the steps we followed the herd, to the roadside where vendors sold ice-drinks and channa. (146) Could be a fish,… or it could be a kind of daal….
Breeze on your face, clothes fluttering behind, swinging slowly from foot to heavy foot – tall sailing mantises. (152) Is a mantis a praying mantis or a fancy boat? Neither seems to quite fit.
Thus this book was both a revelation and a confusion. Despite that, or because of it, for the most part, I’m glad I read it.
I will add that the hints of the political situation, which the readers get only toward the end, caught my attention immediately. I would love to find out that Kempadoo has written a book with that more the focus.
Glossary (needing definitions) in order of appearance
Tentesse: Middle bedroom had a bunk bed and some tentesse shelves, packed with my brother’s things – wires, pieces of radio. (4)
Ginch: He ginched and giggled jerkily. (9)
Cock-a-dung-guts: burnt my neck-back as I checked the cock-a-dung-guts fish in the open drain along our fence. (20)
Yowaris: Yowaris lived in it. (32)
And DeAbros is Putagee, an dey living here too? (59) Say what?
Down the steps we followed the herd, to the roadside where vendors sold ice-drinks and channa. (146) Could be a fish,… or it could be a kind of daal….
Breeze on your face, clothes fluttering behind, swinging slowly from foot to heavy foot – tall sailing mantises. (152) Is a mantis a praying mantis or a fancy boat? Neither seems to quite fit.
July 25, 2016
This book was a recommended read that has been sitting in my 'to be read' pile for a while. I loved this book, from the first chapter I was held and I could have finished it in one sitting. Caribbean literature written from the Caribbean diaspora, you can always feel this disconnect between the writer and the writing as a Caribbean resident currently residing in the Caribbean. But you do not feel this disconnect with Oonya, 'Buxton Spice' felt fresh like it was written just a couple months ago. It felt so fresh that I could let my Caribbean Studies students read it and they would be titillated. There are so many themes that run throughout this 170 page book, that any teacher in a Caribbean school, especially the humanities can utilise in their classroom. Themes, for example, sex and sexual relations, LGBTQI in the Caribbean, vagrancy, mental issues, female bodies and ownership in the Caribbean, body shaming, the occupation with the male phallus, migration, social mobility, race/ethnicity/class issues, community spirit and relations, race/tribal politics especially in relation to Guyanese legacy of Forbes Burnham, revolutionary spirits, Communism/Socialism in the Caribbean...are just some of the many themes that are in 'Buxton Spice'. I am yet to try a 'Buxton Spice' mango and I am still curious why the tree never spoke to her until her family re-migrated.
May 31, 2016
A virtually unreadable snooze-a-thon.
August 30, 2023
Black people lived in one village, Indians the next. Blacks, Indians. So it went, all along the coast of Guyana to Mahaica. Even if you didn't see people, you could tell which village was black, which was coolie. Black villages had co-op shops; Indians hardware and dry goods. Blacks had unpainted houses and clap-hand churches; Indians paint, front gardens, mosques and temples. Was always people liming on the road in a black village. Mothers and children out till ten at night. Not so in an Indian village. But all had Catholic churches and rumshops by the main road. Was difficult to imagine this broken mosque full of Indians praying and living in Tamarind Grove. Seemed to me, the only way a building could get like this was like in war movies when they just dropped those bombs whistling, straight down from planes. Them Riots must'a been like that. The only warring I could remember was what Mums said was a rally. I remember plenty PNC people running down the street with flames in bottles. And even though they were shouting, faces orange, teeth gold - was a strange silence in the black night. That silence made my parents say nothing. Close the windows and hold us. Hearts galloping.
- Buxton Spice by Oonya Kempadoo
.
.
Honestly, i am traumatised. I get that sexual awakening is common among teenagers - they are curious and oftentimes, majority parents especially POC back then didn’t really explain well on the subject matter. However, to start with the first chapter of explicit description of masturbation by mentally ill man was utterly uncomfortable for me. And it did not stop there, we have encountered many sexual violence acts - molestation , assaults and even bestiality. Its not my place to say what author can write or cannot write but i have often wondered what are the intentions behind such stories or scenes. I was more interested with what happened in Guyana in the 1970s- whereby the author used it as a backdrop of a novel but it was not explored in details. We can only assumed that Lula, the main character’s parents are dissidents or intellectuals that made them the target of PNC. We also know that there’s a political struggle and controversy civilian unrest but it was mentioned briefly in the passing. The author also highlighted how diverse Guyana is with Indians, Africans , Portuguese , Indigenous people and even mixed races communities although in the said observation, they are not keen in mingling and interacting with one another hence the areas was divided along the race and ethnicity lines. Oonya Kempadoo can write and her prose is beautiful but i just can’t get over the fact that how hyper sexualized it is. The book have a lot of dialogues in Guyanese Creole to demonstrate the authenticity of the story. As to why the title of the book is called ‘Buxton Spice’ - it is a well known Mango in Guyana. Lula always insinuating that the Buxton Spice Mango Tree often know what happened in the community - from the mysterious death that happened to the pastor wife and the government infiltration via PNC random raids and checking in the area but the tree refused to share it with her. Overall, this is my first book of Oonya Kempadoo and probably will be the last one if she maintained the same style on her other books - fragmented, disjointed and no central theme that uniting the writing.
- Buxton Spice by Oonya Kempadoo
.
.
Honestly, i am traumatised. I get that sexual awakening is common among teenagers - they are curious and oftentimes, majority parents especially POC back then didn’t really explain well on the subject matter. However, to start with the first chapter of explicit description of masturbation by mentally ill man was utterly uncomfortable for me. And it did not stop there, we have encountered many sexual violence acts - molestation , assaults and even bestiality. Its not my place to say what author can write or cannot write but i have often wondered what are the intentions behind such stories or scenes. I was more interested with what happened in Guyana in the 1970s- whereby the author used it as a backdrop of a novel but it was not explored in details. We can only assumed that Lula, the main character’s parents are dissidents or intellectuals that made them the target of PNC. We also know that there’s a political struggle and controversy civilian unrest but it was mentioned briefly in the passing. The author also highlighted how diverse Guyana is with Indians, Africans , Portuguese , Indigenous people and even mixed races communities although in the said observation, they are not keen in mingling and interacting with one another hence the areas was divided along the race and ethnicity lines. Oonya Kempadoo can write and her prose is beautiful but i just can’t get over the fact that how hyper sexualized it is. The book have a lot of dialogues in Guyanese Creole to demonstrate the authenticity of the story. As to why the title of the book is called ‘Buxton Spice’ - it is a well known Mango in Guyana. Lula always insinuating that the Buxton Spice Mango Tree often know what happened in the community - from the mysterious death that happened to the pastor wife and the government infiltration via PNC random raids and checking in the area but the tree refused to share it with her. Overall, this is my first book of Oonya Kempadoo and probably will be the last one if she maintained the same style on her other books - fragmented, disjointed and no central theme that uniting the writing.
July 15, 2024
Free, Internet Archive Library | Violence, patois, racism, rape | I hated this. I have always disliked books written in dialogue, so this was always going to be a bit of a slog for me, but that's not my main issue. There's almost no plot here, Kempadoo shifts between overworked attempts at poetic descriptions and fanatical observations of genitals. It feels like every few pages someone gets raped, or a woman's body is found after having been raped and murdered, or kids are trying to spy on a gang rape, or a mother is beating her daughter to within an inch of her life and making the other kids hold her spread eagle so mom can inspect her genitals to see if she's been having sex and saying it's rape if it's a black man, or a violent teenager is trapping a young girl in a corner and forcing his hand into her crotch...there's just so much rape here. And when that's not happening, thieves are being half-drowned and then beaten in the street with metal rods. Race riots. Explosives. And all in deep patois and from the perspective of a child, so you have to really focus to even understand what's happening.
March 13, 2025
“I find de whole business look nasty”
Intense. Very intense.
Intense. Very intense.
October 27, 2017
I chose Buxton Spice for the Read Harder Challenge 2017 in the category of a book set in South America written by a South American author. While told from the point of view of Lulu, a pre-teen girl growing up in Guyana in 1970, her use of her native dialect made the narrative very challenging and oftentimes difficult to read. Additionally, I was unfamiliar with the politics of Guyana in 1970, although there is some effort to explain some of that in Lulu’s narrative. Ultimately, I felt that the book ended too abruptly, leaving me with the feeling that I missed something.
August 18, 2014
I liked how Oonya pictured Guyana way back in 1970's. It is an evocative novel. And it touched my soul and made me contemplate how fortunate I am to be born in the 1990's. In this novel, so many happenings would make you want to scream. Young gals using battery as dildo. Girls pretending to be husbands and wives. T'eo fucking the pigs with his "pink wet worm". Uncle Joe showing off his donkey lolo to the little girls. Idk. Too much happened. Tragic...tragic book.
December 14, 2021
Guyana. Lula is a young woman growing up in a mixed race neighborhood in the 70s. The country is becoming militarized, violence is escalating and anyone not of the correct party is in danger. The mango tree in the yard is a central character and a witness to all the action. The story is told in Guyanese Creole, which made it hard to read.
September 24, 2013
There were some really lovely descriptions of the trees and plants and I was impressed by how she described the narrator's experience of going through puberty. However, there was a disturbing amount of sexual violence against women and violence in general that really turned me off of this book.
June 23, 2025
For context, during colonial rule, the British sent India people to Guyana for indentured servitude after Guyana banned slavery, which created a lot of racial tensions and class/caste divisions. This story somewhat explores what separated Black people from Indians at the time.
But this book is also about the main character, Lulu, and her friends going from being innocent children to coming of age amid these cultural and political crossroads.
The best thing about this book is that the author describes everything so beautifully and is clearly a very gifted writer. That being said, literally nothing happened plot-wise. I think there was so much potential in the characters and the vibrant community and setting she built, and yet it wasn't fully realized in my opinion. I also think some of the violence is a bit much (it almost feels like it's fetishized rather than focused on character growth because there wasn't as much screentime).
4/10 kinda mid and forgettable tbh
But this book is also about the main character, Lulu, and her friends going from being innocent children to coming of age amid these cultural and political crossroads.
The best thing about this book is that the author describes everything so beautifully and is clearly a very gifted writer. That being said, literally nothing happened plot-wise. I think there was so much potential in the characters and the vibrant community and setting she built, and yet it wasn't fully realized in my opinion. I also think some of the violence is a bit much (it almost feels like it's fetishized rather than focused on character growth because there wasn't as much screentime).
4/10 kinda mid and forgettable tbh
November 28, 2017
2017 Reading Challenge - A book about a difficult topic
Buxton Spice is ultimately a coming of age novel about a young girl in Guyana in the community of Tamarind Grove during the dictatorial rule of Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. Lula, the main character, is the daughter of intellectuals and this in some ways sets her apart from her peers. However, ultimately, she experiences the same growing pains they do and is witness to the political repression and sexual violence within her community, the same as her peers. It is a poetically written book and paints some vivid pictures. It is heavy on the sexual awakening, and sometimes it presents itself in a slightly disturbing manner.
Buxton Spice is ultimately a coming of age novel about a young girl in Guyana in the community of Tamarind Grove during the dictatorial rule of Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. Lula, the main character, is the daughter of intellectuals and this in some ways sets her apart from her peers. However, ultimately, she experiences the same growing pains they do and is witness to the political repression and sexual violence within her community, the same as her peers. It is a poetically written book and paints some vivid pictures. It is heavy on the sexual awakening, and sometimes it presents itself in a slightly disturbing manner.
January 24, 2022
This is a glimpse into the world of a pre-teen who's life was much different from mine.
Hot Caribbean country vs freezing calvinistic one.
Political turmoil vs stable.
Hyper aware of sex(uality) vs reserved.
Make do vs all services at your disposal.
Witness to violence, sex and deceit vs sheltered.
Aware of the impact of race(ism) and class vs near oblivious.
It starts of with some gross hairy balls which are hard to forget, but i am glad to say this tone does not continue (as much).
Hot Caribbean country vs freezing calvinistic one.
Political turmoil vs stable.
Hyper aware of sex(uality) vs reserved.
Make do vs all services at your disposal.
Witness to violence, sex and deceit vs sheltered.
Aware of the impact of race(ism) and class vs near oblivious.
It starts of with some gross hairy balls which are hard to forget, but i am glad to say this tone does not continue (as much).
October 12, 2025
This is the story of a young Guyanese girl growing up there in the 1970s in a small fictional town. I think it is based on the author's own childhood there. I ended up buying this book as a second hand book in Cyprus, but the Guyanese setting intrigued me. The book started out in the voice and dialect of a young Guyanese girl, but many darker themes emerge in the book later on. There are chapters on sexual awakening of the girls as they move into puberty. In the end, the book's lack of plot or story line bothered me. By the end, I was disappointed with the book.
October 11, 2022
It was easy to read and I enjoyed the narrative voice of the child narrator and learned a little about Guyana that I didn't know before.
On the downside the book is brimming with grubby sexual references and unpleasant sexual encounters. The balance between this and the rest of the narrative is off in my opinion and it kind of detracted from the whole.
On the downside the book is brimming with grubby sexual references and unpleasant sexual encounters. The balance between this and the rest of the narrative is off in my opinion and it kind of detracted from the whole.
April 27, 2018
Set in the fictional Guyanese town of Tamarind Grove this episodic novel, largely written in a sometimes difficult to decipher Caribbean patois, is the story of Lula and her friends arriving at adolescence and finding the dangers of politics ready to intrude.
March 18, 2021
Puberty isn't my favorite theme in a book, but it was well-written and a fast read. It was also interesting to read about Guyana, a country with which I'm not at all familiar despite sharing a continent.
August 7, 2017
This coming-of-age story for my ATW Reading Challenge (Guyana) is disjointed, but the prose is lyrical in places.
January 7, 2019
2,5 sterren.
Een inkijkje in de leefwereld van Lula. Hoe ze praat met de Buxton Spice mangoboom vond ik mooi, maar verder was het weinig vernieuwend of enerverend.
Een inkijkje in de leefwereld van Lula. Hoe ze praat met de Buxton Spice mangoboom vond ik mooi, maar verder was het weinig vernieuwend of enerverend.
March 8, 2021
#readtheworld Guyana
June 15, 2023
Spicy and dicey life and strife unfurls and girls sprung young from what she and the big tree sees…rid amid adult tumult…
January 24, 2024
She captured the crisis of growing up as a woman perfectly, flawlessly, and seamlessly. With the additional aspects of Caribbean life, it truly feels like the semi-autobiographical story that it is
April 13, 2023
I dug this book up because Nalo Hopkinson puts it into the hands of one of her characters. It's a coming of age book, which might be my least favorite genre. However, despite some weird moments, it's one of the most charming books I have ever read. It makes growing up in 70s Guyana sound really nice! You know, until suddenly it wasn't.
April 28, 2023
I introduced myself to this book through my subscription from Rebel Women Lit, an open online and in-person book club based in Jamaica. They send me three random classic Caribbean books a month for five months, and I was excited to have a small gift for myself every few weeks. This book was a decent start to this collection, set in Guyana in the 1970s in which we follow Lula, our child narrator, through a portion of her coming of age experience. It isn’t the worst book, but not my favorite I ever read. I think the disconnect came from the book focusing more on collecting observations from a child’s viewpoint rather than building up a specific plotline that would significantly impact the characters’ lives. If I read this in a classroom setting, I would more appreciate it, since I never read these kinds of books for my classes. Learning about the Burnham regime, the patriarchy, and sexuality from a Guyanese point of view provides a rich foundation for discussion lacking in some undergraduate academic spheres.
Although, I do want to point out opportunities for further discussion if you decide to read the book. I particularly loved a short part in the middle of the book, where we talk about Aunt Ruth, the Obeah lady. I wish we talked about her more as she seemed to have one of the most exciting plot lines. Still, the story leaves her as a point of interest just as she confronted the dictator Burnham himself (I was trembling for her) and prepared a baby who had an untimely death for her funeral. For me, that would have been a more interesting story because the reader would have had more of an opportunity to see how Obeah people become such an integral part of community development. But alas, we had to return to Lula’s sexual awakening, which was interesting, but not the most pressing topic for me. I need to investigate if other fictional Caribbean books focus on the lives of people who do Obeah work.
The reason I give this review is not that this is a bad book, the writing, the imagery on Tamarind Grove, and the descriptions of characters were all far above the level of writing I have seen in many other books. However, at this moment I am a little tired of coming of age stories. From the controversy about Cuties, to Netflix just adding “Girlfriends,” media outlets have been bombarding me with so many traumatizing narratives about women of color growing up, all in the midst of me just graduating college over Zoom a few months ago. It can be tiring to be confronted with all these anxiety-filled stories about women of color going through hardship. For example, in the book, we end with one mother ripping off her daughter’s underwear when confronted about the daughter being with a man. When can women of color have a moment of peace in these stories that isn’t abruptly cut off by some traumatizing event? I could say that this is just art reflecting reality, but I could also say that art doesn’t always have to be so heavy, maybe it can provide just a short moment of release.
Although, I do want to point out opportunities for further discussion if you decide to read the book. I particularly loved a short part in the middle of the book, where we talk about Aunt Ruth, the Obeah lady. I wish we talked about her more as she seemed to have one of the most exciting plot lines. Still, the story leaves her as a point of interest just as she confronted the dictator Burnham himself (I was trembling for her) and prepared a baby who had an untimely death for her funeral. For me, that would have been a more interesting story because the reader would have had more of an opportunity to see how Obeah people become such an integral part of community development. But alas, we had to return to Lula’s sexual awakening, which was interesting, but not the most pressing topic for me. I need to investigate if other fictional Caribbean books focus on the lives of people who do Obeah work.
The reason I give this review is not that this is a bad book, the writing, the imagery on Tamarind Grove, and the descriptions of characters were all far above the level of writing I have seen in many other books. However, at this moment I am a little tired of coming of age stories. From the controversy about Cuties, to Netflix just adding “Girlfriends,” media outlets have been bombarding me with so many traumatizing narratives about women of color growing up, all in the midst of me just graduating college over Zoom a few months ago. It can be tiring to be confronted with all these anxiety-filled stories about women of color going through hardship. For example, in the book, we end with one mother ripping off her daughter’s underwear when confronted about the daughter being with a man. When can women of color have a moment of peace in these stories that isn’t abruptly cut off by some traumatizing event? I could say that this is just art reflecting reality, but I could also say that art doesn’t always have to be so heavy, maybe it can provide just a short moment of release.
March 31, 2021
Długo szukałam powieści z Gujany i bardzo cieszę się, że trafiłam, między innymi dzięki temu blogowi, na tę książkę, a przede wszystkim, że odważyłam się na jej lekturę. Czytanie po angielsku nie sprawia mi problemów ale szybciej czytam po niemiecku czy po polsku więc zawsze mam opory przed perspektywą wolniejszej lektury. Dobrze, że nie wiedziałam wcześniej, że Kempadoo wplata bardzo dużo kreolskiego dialektu, praktycznie wszystkie dialogi są tak napisane. Na szczęście liznęłam jamajskiego patois i dzięki temu w ogóle byłam w stanie tę książkę zrozumieć. Z zasady nie sprawdzam nie znanych mi słów w słowniku tylko staram się zrozumieć je z kontekstu, wiem, że ciągłe korzystanie ze słownika zniechęca, spowalnia lekturę, a w końcu frustruje.
Spójrzcie na tę piękną okładkę, jej kolory są tak soczyste jak proza Kempadoo i życie Luli - nastolatki z Tamarind Grove. Lula, jej siostra i córki sąsiadów tworzą zgraną paczkę - wszystkie są w podobnym wieku, stoją u progu dojrzewania, podejrzliwe obserwują swoje dojrzewające i budzące się ciała, obserwują pulsujące od seksu życie ale także polityczne wydarzenia oraz zamieszki na tle rasowym, jakie mają miejsce w Gujanie.
Ciąg dalszy: https://przeczytalamksiazke.blogspot....
Spójrzcie na tę piękną okładkę, jej kolory są tak soczyste jak proza Kempadoo i życie Luli - nastolatki z Tamarind Grove. Lula, jej siostra i córki sąsiadów tworzą zgraną paczkę - wszystkie są w podobnym wieku, stoją u progu dojrzewania, podejrzliwe obserwują swoje dojrzewające i budzące się ciała, obserwują pulsujące od seksu życie ale także polityczne wydarzenia oraz zamieszki na tle rasowym, jakie mają miejsce w Gujanie.
Ciąg dalszy: https://przeczytalamksiazke.blogspot....
July 25, 2021
I enjoyed reading this novel and I learned a great deal about Guyana - mostly due to my own researching. The story is told through the eyes of a young girl growing up in Guyana in the 1970's. It is more a story of observations, rather than a book with an actual plot.
It is written in Lula's words, which sometimes makes it difficult to understand what she is referring to. Guyana is one of the few countries in South America in which English is the main language. Yes, Guyana is where Jim Jones convinced his American followers to drink cyanide-laced Kool Aid. But surprisingly, most of the inhabitants of this country are from elsewhere - mostly India, China and Portugal. The descendants of current citizens came to work the sugar plantations of the country.
It is a country with high racial tensions, back in the 1970's, and now today.
It is written in Lula's words, which sometimes makes it difficult to understand what she is referring to. Guyana is one of the few countries in South America in which English is the main language. Yes, Guyana is where Jim Jones convinced his American followers to drink cyanide-laced Kool Aid. But surprisingly, most of the inhabitants of this country are from elsewhere - mostly India, China and Portugal. The descendants of current citizens came to work the sugar plantations of the country.
It is a country with high racial tensions, back in the 1970's, and now today.
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