Limbo: A Novel about Jamaica

by Esther Figueroa

Flora Smith, Jamaican scientist and head of tiny NGO Environment Now, dedicates her life to getting Jamaicans to care about the natural environment. At the opening of Limbo , Flora is confronted by the nagging reality of not having enough money to keep her organization afloat. When sand is stolen from a resort development owned by a wealthy donor, she becomes embroiled in corrupt politics, dirty money, and a murder. In Jamaica, the land of “No problem, mon,” everything is known but off the record. Can Flora get anyone to be held accountable? Can she find solutions for any of Jamaica’s problems?

Limbo is a humorous, sensuous romp, detailing one woman’s struggle to find ways to effectively achieve change while making peace with herself and her island, which she loves more than she has loved anyone. As we keep pace with the indefatigable, irrepressible Flora, we experience the not-so-tidy challenges of balancing a valiant public persona with a chaotic personal life. Through her attempts at transforming the world and herself, we encounter deep friendship, new love, and the complexities of contemporary Jamaica, a place of achingly exquisite but threatened beauty, routine brutality, and poorly hidden secrets.

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256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2014

Reviews

[Matt Cappo · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Limbo, Figueroa performs an intensely interesting weaving of the personal and the national. Jamaica’s picturesque environment is being defaced by the horrors of exploitative industry, corrupt government, and an unfazed populace. Flora and her friends seem to stand alone against the tsunami sized tides of neo-colonial interests. The insurmountable nature of her task is as destructive to Flora’s psyche as it is to Jamaica’s land. It is this sense, the personal, that the novel excels—Flora’s midlife crisis is distinctly relate-able and human. Watching her struggle with her demons, doubts, and even successes is a refreshing treat. Likewise, her incredibly engaging passing insights into her island keep you reading, hunting for that next interesting scientific explanation, deliciously rendered meal description, or juicy community tidbit.

Where the novel sometimes falls short is delivering on the world outside Flora’s direct view. Her friends, particularly Jerome and Lilac, can seem one-note. While their personalities and relationship with Flora is initially interesting, their reactions to her and everything else quickly become rote. They lack her depth, her indecision and dynamism. As a result, they tend to fade into the background.

The ending doesn’t deliver on the mystery set-up, seemingly intentionally. This would be fine except that the resolution that the actual resolution seems rushed, lacking in detail, and perhaps too convenient for me personally.

Nevertheless, the novel is worth a read for what it attempts and what it realizes of Flora’s personal story. Just don’t be alarmed when everything else isn’t as masterfully rendered.

[Tsipi Erann]

This is not a literary masterpiece, but it isn't a terrible read either.

I am in no way averse to activism in my literature. I'm actually quite fond of it. And this novel is certainly trying to make some urgent points about environmental destruction, amidst official and business corruption, the legacy of colonialism, capitalism and financial imperialism, and more. I'm here for it!

But I do expect literature to be literary, and I felt that the story aspect of this novel suffered, and was barely a backdrop for the message. I liked the characters Figueroa envisioned, though I didn't entirely buy them as realistic. Is the social elite of Kingston really that gay? Is it believable that a 23 year old just kind of decides in advance that he is in love with a woman in her forties, and that is just that? No issues? I wouldn't be nearly satisfied without LGBT storylines, but this seems just too rainbow-y. l

The crimes and mysteries are an aside, and no, at no conference does an environmental activist get a TEN MINUTE STANDING OVATION.

And yet, I could tell from the descriptions how much Figueroa loves Jamaica. I loved getting to peek into aspects of a place I couldn't otherwise, whether linguistically, geographically, historically, culturally...

I wish it were a better novel, but I'm not in any way sorry I read it.

[Marina Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esther Figueroa is an activist, film maker, writers, and educator (among many other things) from Kingston, Jamaica. She brings together her life experiences and professional education into the novel Limbo. Yes, it's choppy and leaves much to be desired. However, there is an art to making a novel thought-provoking, informative, and still open to reader interpretation. Things I loved: use of local language in character dialogue (Jamaican dialect), unresolved conflicts prompt the reader to EXPERIENCE limbo themselves, the raging sexuality (!!) and Queerness sprinkled throughout, and how it encompasses the reality of global development in the Caribbean (the conflicts in the novel are very real). Flora's actions prompts those of us balancing academic privilege and being a local community member to consider how we are engaging with our motivations and professional interests.

A couple of issues that keep me from giving it 5 stars: it's not much of a "literary adventure" (not much investment in developing characters, hooking us on the plot). Nonetheless, this book is worth a read! Caribbean Studies class or not.

Be prepared for no ending. We readers in the US expect closure. You will not get closure from this novel, not in the way you think. Esther leaves us in limbo with many questions, much to be desired, yet much joy and forward thinking.

[Lisa Humphrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I see why it is used for Caribbean literature classes but it is also amateur writing. I couldn't care about the characters and therefore couldn't care about what they cared about. Good attempted message, poor execution.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery takes a backseat to Flora's personal discoveries. These discoveries felt like padding because Figueroa doesn't make me care about the characters involved.