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We've Been Here Before
Not yet published
Expected 9 Jun 26A family saga stretching from the Caribbean to Canada where womanhood and mothering demands what the body wants to forget.
We've Been Here Before begins with the childhood stories of Lise-Rose, who struggles with speech and coming of age in a community anchored on both West African spirituality and the Catholic church. Lise-Rose must choose either to follow the ancestral ways of her father who is spiritually bound to the sea or her mother who has rooted herself in Catholicism. In the end her options are limited through events that connect her to the shape shifters of the village.
From Ma Lise-Rose's ancestors to her descendants, we see the struggle to honour ancestral knowledge while living on foreign lands. Francesca, Lise-Rose's granddaughter, leaves her family behind in Dominica as she embarks on a new life in Canada that seems limitless and oppressive all at once.
The stirring intergenerational saga is woven together with folklore and memory, and is based loosely on stories from the author's own family storytelling traditions.
We've Been Here Before begins with the childhood stories of Lise-Rose, who struggles with speech and coming of age in a community anchored on both West African spirituality and the Catholic church. Lise-Rose must choose either to follow the ancestral ways of her father who is spiritually bound to the sea or her mother who has rooted herself in Catholicism. In the end her options are limited through events that connect her to the shape shifters of the village.
From Ma Lise-Rose's ancestors to her descendants, we see the struggle to honour ancestral knowledge while living on foreign lands. Francesca, Lise-Rose's granddaughter, leaves her family behind in Dominica as she embarks on a new life in Canada that seems limitless and oppressive all at once.
The stirring intergenerational saga is woven together with folklore and memory, and is based loosely on stories from the author's own family storytelling traditions.
- GenresFiction
328 pages, Paperback
Expected publication June 9, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
There’s a quiet power in a story that understands inheritance — not just what we’re given, but what we’re forced to carry.
We’ve Been Here Before unfolds like memory itself: nonlinear, sensory, threaded with folklore and longing. Myrtle Henry Sodhi opens with Lise-Rose — a child struggling with speech in a community suspended between West African spirituality and Catholic devotion — and from those early pages, you feel the tension between worlds. The sea calls. The church calls. And somewhere in between stands a girl trying to find her voice.
What lingers most is how Sodhi handles womanhood. This is not a romanticized lineage. It is one marked by silence, by expectation, by mothering that both protects and wounds. The shape-shifting figure that alters Lise-Rose’s life feels symbolic without ever becoming abstract — a reminder that the supernatural and the psychological often speak the same language in communities where folklore and faith intertwine.
As the narrative moves from Dominica to Canada, the scope widens but the intimacy remains. Margaux’s experience of migration — racism, isolation, the ache of being neither fully from here nor there — is rendered with restraint. Sodhi doesn’t overstate. She allows the quiet humiliations and small acts of resilience to speak for themselves.
One of the novel’s most striking achievements is its evolution in voice. The prose shifts alongside the generations — from Lise-Rose’s simpler, dialect-inflected rhythms to the more structured language of a Canadian upbringing. It’s a subtle but powerful technique that mirrors education, displacement, and the slow reshaping of identity across borders.
The women in this saga are flawed. They hurt. They survive. They pass down both wisdom and damage. And yet the novel never reduces them to either victims or saints. Instead, it asks what it means to reclaim ancestral knowledge without being consumed by it — to honor the past while choosing differently.
We’ve Been Here Before is tender, unflinching, and deeply rooted in place. It understands that migration is not just geographic — it’s spiritual, emotional, generational. And in tracing that movement, Sodhi delivers a story that feels both intimate and expansive, grounded and mythic.
A resonant, intergenerational portrait of women learning — sometimes painfully — how to speak in their own voice.
We’ve Been Here Before unfolds like memory itself: nonlinear, sensory, threaded with folklore and longing. Myrtle Henry Sodhi opens with Lise-Rose — a child struggling with speech in a community suspended between West African spirituality and Catholic devotion — and from those early pages, you feel the tension between worlds. The sea calls. The church calls. And somewhere in between stands a girl trying to find her voice.
What lingers most is how Sodhi handles womanhood. This is not a romanticized lineage. It is one marked by silence, by expectation, by mothering that both protects and wounds. The shape-shifting figure that alters Lise-Rose’s life feels symbolic without ever becoming abstract — a reminder that the supernatural and the psychological often speak the same language in communities where folklore and faith intertwine.
As the narrative moves from Dominica to Canada, the scope widens but the intimacy remains. Margaux’s experience of migration — racism, isolation, the ache of being neither fully from here nor there — is rendered with restraint. Sodhi doesn’t overstate. She allows the quiet humiliations and small acts of resilience to speak for themselves.
One of the novel’s most striking achievements is its evolution in voice. The prose shifts alongside the generations — from Lise-Rose’s simpler, dialect-inflected rhythms to the more structured language of a Canadian upbringing. It’s a subtle but powerful technique that mirrors education, displacement, and the slow reshaping of identity across borders.
The women in this saga are flawed. They hurt. They survive. They pass down both wisdom and damage. And yet the novel never reduces them to either victims or saints. Instead, it asks what it means to reclaim ancestral knowledge without being consumed by it — to honor the past while choosing differently.
We’ve Been Here Before is tender, unflinching, and deeply rooted in place. It understands that migration is not just geographic — it’s spiritual, emotional, generational. And in tracing that movement, Sodhi delivers a story that feels both intimate and expansive, grounded and mythic.
A resonant, intergenerational portrait of women learning — sometimes painfully — how to speak in their own voice.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was not an easy read for me, mostly because I often struggled to follow the narrative. The POV switches aren’t always clearly marked, and the story moves between memories, visions, dreams, and the present. At times it was hard to keep track of what was happening and who was speaking. Because of that, I sometimes felt more like an observer trying to piece things together than a reader fully immersed in the story.
At the same time, this novel touches themes I usually connect with: generational trauma, women’s lives shaped by silence, and the search for one’s voice. The first part of the story, set in Dominica, gave me One Hundred Years of Solitude vibes. The way the narrative moves across generations of women, with the same patterns returning again and again, reminded me of that same sense of history repeating itself.
I did appreciate the use of dialect in the early sections, when the narrator is still a child in Dominica. It gives the voice a strong cultural voice, and I liked how the language gradually shifts into more standard English as the narrator grows older and the story moves to Canada.
Another element I found interesting was the contrast between the narrator’s stutter in spoken language and the richness of her inner monologue.
Even with these strong points, I rarely felt as emotionally engaged as I expected and often felt like I was watching the story from a distance.
By the final pages I could see that the author was trying to show how voice, silence, and storytelling travel across generations of women. I appreciated the ambition behind that idea, but the resolution didn’t fully work for me. Margaux finding her voice through a vision of her ancestors felt less earned to me than if it had come more directly from her own growth.
Still, the book left me thinking about how trauma travels across generations and continents, shaping motherhood, womanhood, and relationships with men. Margaux begins to voice her struggles, but she isn’t suddenly whole. She remains a work in progress, and that felt honest — and hopeful.
Many thanks to NetGalley & Dundurn Press for the ARC. These are my own thoughts.
At the same time, this novel touches themes I usually connect with: generational trauma, women’s lives shaped by silence, and the search for one’s voice. The first part of the story, set in Dominica, gave me One Hundred Years of Solitude vibes. The way the narrative moves across generations of women, with the same patterns returning again and again, reminded me of that same sense of history repeating itself.
I did appreciate the use of dialect in the early sections, when the narrator is still a child in Dominica. It gives the voice a strong cultural voice, and I liked how the language gradually shifts into more standard English as the narrator grows older and the story moves to Canada.
Another element I found interesting was the contrast between the narrator’s stutter in spoken language and the richness of her inner monologue.
Even with these strong points, I rarely felt as emotionally engaged as I expected and often felt like I was watching the story from a distance.
By the final pages I could see that the author was trying to show how voice, silence, and storytelling travel across generations of women. I appreciated the ambition behind that idea, but the resolution didn’t fully work for me. Margaux finding her voice through a vision of her ancestors felt less earned to me than if it had come more directly from her own growth.
Still, the book left me thinking about how trauma travels across generations and continents, shaping motherhood, womanhood, and relationships with men. Margaux begins to voice her struggles, but she isn’t suddenly whole. She remains a work in progress, and that felt honest — and hopeful.
Many thanks to NetGalley & Dundurn Press for the ARC. These are my own thoughts.
February 11, 2026
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dundurn Press and Myrtle Henry Sodhi for the Arc!
We’ve been here before is a novel about womanhood and mothering. The story begins with Lise-Rose, a young girl who struggles with with speech, and goes on showing us her descendants. We start our journey in Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean, and we end it in Canada.
I loved this book. The author successfully portrayed a generation of women growing up in a small village, with their own beliefs and struggles. I was deeply interested in following the stories of our protagonists and their families. Strong themes like sexual violence and abuse are addressed from an emotional perspective, and we can also observe the psychological consequences.
The writing is very interesting precisely because it reflects the characters. We start with a very simple level of writing and with many dialect words and phrases, an almost childlike style that represents Lise-Rose's speech. As the book progresses, the writing improves, until we reach a standard English that represents the level of education and upbringing of Margoux, born in Dominica but raised and educated in Canada.
The characters have their flaws, they're certainly not perfect, but it's very easy to empathize with them and what they've been through, recognizing not only what they've suffered but also what they've inflicted on their children.
Overall, it's a book I highly recommend!
We’ve been here before is a novel about womanhood and mothering. The story begins with Lise-Rose, a young girl who struggles with with speech, and goes on showing us her descendants. We start our journey in Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean, and we end it in Canada.
I loved this book. The author successfully portrayed a generation of women growing up in a small village, with their own beliefs and struggles. I was deeply interested in following the stories of our protagonists and their families. Strong themes like sexual violence and abuse are addressed from an emotional perspective, and we can also observe the psychological consequences.
The writing is very interesting precisely because it reflects the characters. We start with a very simple level of writing and with many dialect words and phrases, an almost childlike style that represents Lise-Rose's speech. As the book progresses, the writing improves, until we reach a standard English that represents the level of education and upbringing of Margoux, born in Dominica but raised and educated in Canada.
The characters have their flaws, they're certainly not perfect, but it's very easy to empathize with them and what they've been through, recognizing not only what they've suffered but also what they've inflicted on their children.
Overall, it's a book I highly recommend!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
We've Been Here Before is a book I struggled with initially. I found it hard to get into the flow of the prose in earlier chapters. It helped if I read aloud, but as I read most of this one in my lunch breaks at work, that wasn't always possible. Things did improve for me on that score as the book progressed though. It was interesting to see the generational changes within the family, and yet also the interconnection through folk traditions and shared memory. I had no prior knowledge of any traditional customs in Dominica when I started this book, so it was also fascinating for me from a multicultural perspective to get a bit of insight into that culture. I appreciated the storytelling style and the emotion portrayed in this tale, but unfortunately, it never managed to touch me deeply, so I was always reading as if standing a bit apart. I do acknowledge, though, that I read this book as part of a world reading challenge and it is not a genre/type of book I would normally have gravitated towards, so that could play a part in my feelings towards it. If you like women's fiction that is part historical, part family saga and part reflection on traditions, this is likely a book you will enjoy. I am giving it 3.5 as my personal rating, but that's a reflection probably more on my personal preferences than a lack of quality to the book itself.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 22, 2026
ARC received from Netgalley.
We’ve Been Here Before by Myrtle Henry Sodhi follows multiple generations of one family, beginning with Lise-Rose, a young girl navigating childhood with a stutter, and continuing through her descendants and the challenges they face over time.
One of the most compelling threads for me was Margaux’s story—Lise-Rose’s great-granddaughter—who immigrates to Canada with her mother. Their experience is layered with cultural expectations, family pressure from afar, and the difficulty of building a new life while still being tied to the past.
As a genealogist, I was immediately drawn to the premise of a multi-generational story and the idea of a descendant seeking connection with her ancestors. That aspect really spoke to me and kept me invested in the overall arc.
That said, the execution didn’t fully land for me. The narrative shifts between multiple perspectives, and I often found it unclear who was narrating until several paragraphs into a section. That made it harder to stay grounded in the story and connect with the characters as consistently as I would have liked.
At the same time, there were definitely emotional moments where I felt right alongside the characters in their struggles, which I really appreciated.
Overall, this was an interesting concept with strong genealogical themes and some powerful moments, but it didn’t quite have the lasting impact I was hoping for.
We’ve Been Here Before by Myrtle Henry Sodhi follows multiple generations of one family, beginning with Lise-Rose, a young girl navigating childhood with a stutter, and continuing through her descendants and the challenges they face over time.
One of the most compelling threads for me was Margaux’s story—Lise-Rose’s great-granddaughter—who immigrates to Canada with her mother. Their experience is layered with cultural expectations, family pressure from afar, and the difficulty of building a new life while still being tied to the past.
As a genealogist, I was immediately drawn to the premise of a multi-generational story and the idea of a descendant seeking connection with her ancestors. That aspect really spoke to me and kept me invested in the overall arc.
That said, the execution didn’t fully land for me. The narrative shifts between multiple perspectives, and I often found it unclear who was narrating until several paragraphs into a section. That made it harder to stay grounded in the story and connect with the characters as consistently as I would have liked.
At the same time, there were definitely emotional moments where I felt right alongside the characters in their struggles, which I really appreciated.
Overall, this was an interesting concept with strong genealogical themes and some powerful moments, but it didn’t quite have the lasting impact I was hoping for.
April 6, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
“We’ve Been Here Before” is a stirring, lyrical novel following the lives of several generations of women from Dominica. The premise of the book was very interesting to me, as someone who reads a lot of historical fiction that follows family history and the impact of trauma over generations, but I had mixed feelings about how it was executed. The first third of the book started strong, the second third started to meander, and the last third fell flat and lost the strong sense of place and voice that inhabited the beginning of the book. I found it very confusing that the sections narrated by different characters were not differentiated in any meaningful way and the story often shifts between first and third person in a rather disorienting way. I wonder if parts of the novel would have worked better as a memoir, as many of the life experiences of the main character that are mentioned in the second and third half of the book seem to have been taken from the authors personal life. Despite the shortfalls of this book, I’m grateful to the author for penning this deeply personal and important work, and for sharing her cultural roots and a small piece of Dominica with the world.
“We’ve Been Here Before” is a stirring, lyrical novel following the lives of several generations of women from Dominica. The premise of the book was very interesting to me, as someone who reads a lot of historical fiction that follows family history and the impact of trauma over generations, but I had mixed feelings about how it was executed. The first third of the book started strong, the second third started to meander, and the last third fell flat and lost the strong sense of place and voice that inhabited the beginning of the book. I found it very confusing that the sections narrated by different characters were not differentiated in any meaningful way and the story often shifts between first and third person in a rather disorienting way. I wonder if parts of the novel would have worked better as a memoir, as many of the life experiences of the main character that are mentioned in the second and third half of the book seem to have been taken from the authors personal life. Despite the shortfalls of this book, I’m grateful to the author for penning this deeply personal and important work, and for sharing her cultural roots and a small piece of Dominica with the world.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
3 stars for We've Been Here Before. This is a quiet intergenerational saga that traces girlhood, motherhood, and migration from the Caribbean to Canada, with threads of West African spirituality and Catholicism woven throughout. I appreciated the multiple generations and the way the story explores faith, culture, and family expectations across time. The writing has some beautiful, reflective moments, and there's magical realism sprinkled in that feels thoughtful rather than just decorative. That said, the shifting POVs made it difficult to follow at times. I struggled with the structure more than I wanted to, and it caused me to put the book down a few times. I could see what the author was going for, but the execution made it harder to stay connected to the story. If you like layered, character-driven fiction and don't mind a more fragmented narrative, this might work for you. For me, it just didn't come together as smoothly as I'd hoped.
3 stars for We've Been Here Before. This is a quiet intergenerational saga that traces girlhood, motherhood, and migration from the Caribbean to Canada, with threads of West African spirituality and Catholicism woven throughout. I appreciated the multiple generations and the way the story explores faith, culture, and family expectations across time. The writing has some beautiful, reflective moments, and there's magical realism sprinkled in that feels thoughtful rather than just decorative. That said, the shifting POVs made it difficult to follow at times. I struggled with the structure more than I wanted to, and it caused me to put the book down a few times. I could see what the author was going for, but the execution made it harder to stay connected to the story. If you like layered, character-driven fiction and don't mind a more fragmented narrative, this might work for you. For me, it just didn't come together as smoothly as I'd hoped.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews