At the Full and Change of the Moon

by Dionne Brand

From acclaimed and award-winning poet and novelist Dionne Brand comes a saga of magnificent scope, spanning six generations of Africans in the Americas and beyond. Starting with a mass suicide of slaves on Trinidad in 1824, the epic follows a family over the years into the confusion, estrangement and violence of the late 20th century.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Canada, Novels, LGBT, Literary Fiction, Historical

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

As a young girl growing up in Trinidad, Dionne Brand submitted poems to the newspapers under the pseudonym Xavier Simone, an homage to Nina Simone, whom she would listen to late at night on the radio. Brand moved to Canada when she was 17 to attend the University of Toronto, where she earned a degree in Philosophy and English, a Masters in the Philosophy of Education and pursued PhD studies in Women’s History but left the program to make time for creative writing.

Dionne Brand first came to prominence in Canada as a poet. Her books of poetry include No Language Is Neutral, a finalist for the Governor General’s Award, and Land to Light On, winner of the Governor General’s Award and the Trillium Award and thirsty, finalist for the Griffin Prize and winner of the Pat Lowther Award for poetry. Brand is also the author of the acclaimed novels In Another Place, Not Here, which was shortlisted for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Trillium Award, and At the Full and Change of the Moon. Her works of non-fiction include Bread Out of Stone and A Map to the Door of No Return.

What We All Long For was published to great critical acclaim in 2005. While writing the novel, Brand would find herself gazing out the window of a restaurant in the very Toronto neighbourhood occupied by her characters. “I’d be looking through the window and I’d think this is like the frame of the book, the frame of reality: ‘There they are: a young Asian woman passing by with a young black woman passing by, with a young Italian man passing by,” she says in an interview with The Toronto Star. A recent Vanity Fair article quotes her as saying “I’ve ‘read’ New York and London and Paris. And I thought this city needs to be written like that, too.”

In addition to her literary accomplishments, Brand is Professor of English in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/dionne-b...

Reviews

[Kiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. *thug tears*

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

If only someone could manage to study how experiences move through generations of people, how what happens to one person can matter in the life of the next. If only there were a study, covering centuries, that was psychologically, socially, economically, sexually, and spiritually focused, that could give insight into some of the toughest, most perplexing aspects of life. If only...

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I worked out like a fiend on the elliptical machine this morning, thanks to Dionne Brand's "At the Full and Change of the Moon." Her writing is so lyrical and beautiful, and her characters so fascinating that I didn't realize I went 3.5 miles and burned over 500 calories while reading. That's just the kind of book this is. While it's not a novel of cliff-hangers, action, or suspense, Brand weaves a beautiful epic that tells the story of the African Diaspora and its children, and she successfully brings to life landscapes both lush and magical, gritty and real, that you can fall into and get lost in for hours. And that, for me, defines a good read.

[MaKenna Pearn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very important read that looks at the effects of generational trauma through the use of beautiful prose. It can be a bit winded at some points, but that’s the style and doesn’t take away from the storytelling.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fairly complex. Playing with Western assumptions about life writing and temporality, it juxtaposes different stories in an enchanting way. Negotiating the legacy of slavery up to the 1980s, the book shows that trauma can endure several generations and is not bound to place neither.
For me, the book is both: unbelievably sad but somehow, inbetween what is obvious, also full of hope.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brand's fiction is searing! Amazing book.

[Geneviève · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully, complexly scenic route along a genealogy of freedom

[2TReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no words for how tragically beautiful this book is. Through one woman's descendants, Brand charts changing perceptions and times through familial bonds. Nothing is easy in this family. There is loneliness, madness, anger, fear, regret, and hope all wrapped up in each character's journey.

I love when poets write novels. The way they contort and smooth language across pages makes the worlds they create more affecting. You are immersed from page 1, and Brand doesn't let up on the devastating power that will wreck you as you read each character's story.

At The Full And Change Of The Moon is encompassing. You won't regret reading it.

[Elliot A · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like opening a bottle of champagne and inviting the neighbours to celebrate making it through this book. It was that bad.

Most of the time I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The story kept jumping back and forth in time, making it almost impossible to keep track of the generational growth that is supposed to occur throughout the story.

On any one page I read the same sentence at least three times, each time something more was added to it, which made this story extremely difficult to read, since I could never get past the senseless repetition that is supposed to add to the poetic nature of narrating the suffering and tragedy the characters had to endure.

Unfortunately, in this case it did not work at all. It took away from the opportunity for the reader to connect with the characters and really experience their stories.

The story was narrated from a third person point-of-view with the added distance of using "would" or "should", making it impossible to attain an idea of the characters' true dimensions. In addition, there were more than a few instances where the vivid language of describing quite natural human urges had me almost lose my lunch.
I understand that the author's intentions were to be bold and thought provoking, but these statements come across as vulgar and inappropriate.

It gave the impression the author attempted to redefine the genre of Black Atlantic literature by making it unnecessarily complex and obscure, losing all the raw and intense nature that made this genre so powerful in the beginning.

That's all I will say about this book. There are so many better stories about the topic of Black Atlantic literature, just don't bother with this one.

ElliotScribbles

[Sarah Agerbaek · Rating 5 out of 5]

i will never forget the chapters “a Sudden and Big Lust” and “bola”. Dionne brands writing is some of the most beautiful I have ever read

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une immense saga familiale (au moins 5 générations si je ne me suis pas trop perdu dans la descendance) qui part d'une révolte d'esclave trinidadadiens avec en tête, Marie Ursule, qui épargne sa fille dans une rebellion censée la tuer. S'en suit de longs portraits de plusieurs membres de cette famille qui se rendent un peu partout dans le monde et vivent très différemment leur vie. Qu'il s'agisse d'être une mannequin de vitrine qui écrit à sa mère décédée, un revendeur de drogue gai, une femme qui voit sa mère encore en vie, un criminel cruel, etc. on observe ces différents personnages et l'impact que leur mère, grand-mère, arrière-grand mère, aura sur eux, à travers les récits qui seront faits sur Marie Ursule, mais aussi les blancs qu'elles laissent et la famille qui se perd à travers les générations.

Les sagas familiales ne sont pas vraiment mon genre de lecture donc je n'ai pas pu l'apprécier autant que d'autres pourront le faire, mais c'est un ouvrage assez ambitieux et bien écrit. Je pensais qu'il s'agissait d'une nouveauté de Dionne Brand et non pas d'un roman paru en 1999 donc c'est assez différent des autres ouvrages de Brand que j'ai lu dernièrement en terme de style et d'écriture.

[aj ⚢☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i can understand why some people enjoy this book and why it’s objectively good on a literature basis but it was just not for me. some chapters were pretty interesting but for a book that relies on its characters to tell the story of diaspora through generations almost none of its characters were all that interesting. i didn’t get enough time with basically any of the characters to connect with them or to care about anything they were saying and the book overall moved from thing to thing too quickly. i generally don’t like books that are written to confuse the reader e.g. books that don’t really have a plot, books where you can’t always tell what character’s pov it is in a given chapter, etc. and this book was exactly that. definitely no hate to writer because the prose is beautiful this book was just not my type of thing and i do not think i am smart enough to understand it as deeply as the people giving this book five stars.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really surprised at how fast I read this book. Its the first time I have read a poetic style novel and I was entranced from page one. I saw some reviews saying they felt they didnt have enough time or information to get to know the characters which feels shocking to me, i feel like I knew each of them intimately. I feel like i was both deeply aware of every feeling described while at the same time in shock at the unimaginable devastation wracked on each of their lives and the ways we so humanly contort to self soothe these unplaceable wounds. I honestly feel like this book had carved a new pathway in my brain. I noticed so often that without solving the riddle of the poetic framing I could feel through the pages the voice and energy of each character and moment. There were so many times where Dionne described a human experience that I didn’t know until that moment I had felt many many times. Safe to say I loved this book.

[Matteo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don’t like writing negative reviews but I found this book a real slog. First and foremost I found the writing style made it tough to truly gain insight into the many characters in the book. Furthermore the repetition in the book seemed rather unnecessary and made a lot of the chapters feel meandering and long. I would’ve given this a 1 star review were it not for my mild enjoyment of the chapters blue airmail letter and Bola.

[Veronica Rooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was supposed to read this book my last semester of college lol but of course that never happened. Remember liking the part that I did read and went back to finish it, so glad I did! The way Brand writes is immaculate and so magnetic; watching the family tree travel through the centuries really made me think deeply about the act of motherhood and what a family legacy really means. Love love love this book

[Christy Rooney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just really wasn’t for me but I can respect the poetic value of the narrative.

If you like poetic language and imagery and you are okay with there not really being a plot, you would enjoy this book, but unfortunately it didn’t work for me.

[Ba]

Structurally reminded me of GGM and Morrison

[Camille Roylance · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most beautiful book I've ever read.

[Evie Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Mariella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful but ending drags a bit

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have appreciated this more had it it not been read for a class

[Avital · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inter-generational story of Caribbean slavery and diaspora, written by the Canadian author Dionne Brand, born in the Caribbean.This neo-slave narrative, a story of a Trinidadian slave and her descendants, accompanies the family from Trinidad to Amsterdam in the twentieth century. The novel begins in 1802 when a female slave leads a mass suicide revolt, releasing from it only her daughter, and dies tortured yet realized. The real and the imagined tie the daughter with her memories, and affect the way she treats her own children, her senses, nature and lovers. Her memory, pain, hope, and unconventional behavior mark the future of the family.
The book does many great things, breaking with certain conventions for one, sticking to others, questioning a lot. The prose is flowery-I am wondering if it is intentional-a usage of a Caribbean storytelling tradition, or Brand's style.
On a second reading I love it much more. The poetry, the characterization, the thread of suffering and struggle are admirable.

[Chidinma Osuagwu · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Send me to the secret hills, to the secret places even beyond those secret hills..."
This woman can W R I T E. I was in awe and can not wait to read more of her work.

I especially loved this text because it spoke of maroonage in a real and accurate way, the process of taking flight a true resistance of African enslavement.

Marie Ursule is an ancestor you'll recall once you read this text.

Worthy of reread.

[Nathaniel]

I’m very sad about this book not going well. Between the title, the cover, and the synopsis, I was expecting a gorgeously written story about a family spanning multiple generations. Instead, I got a bit bored and lost in the plot. I get the vision and I really did go into this expecting a new favourite, but the execution was not for me.

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

so so so so so good. dionne brand is one of my favorite writers at the moment, and after reading in another place, not here and a map to the door of no return i'm on a sort of journey to read everyhting by her, and eventually make it to her poetry. at the full and change of the moon begins with a mass suicide of a group of people enslaved on an plantation in trinidad. marie ursule, the brain behind it, prepares drinks with poison for everyone after being chained by her ankle following a failed revolt a few years prior. the morning of, she waits patiently for the slaveowners to discover the group of them dead, peacefully, before drinking the poison herself and sending her lover (kamena) and child (bola) to a maroonage inland. the rest of the book follows marie's descendants through bola in a multigenerational love letter to memory. each chapter follows a moment in each descendant's life through the modern day.

so much to say. firstly, i really enjoyed this narrative of slavery and its afterlife through the landscape of the caribbean as a new window into resistance. so many scholars have talked about how enslaved people were the primary knowledge bearers of agricultural and horticultural developments on plantations, and here, brand shows caribbean enslaved people were also experts on the ocean, the tide, the moon... they had minds of sailors and mapmakers and had to know the coast as intimately as possible because the ocean could be their saving grace as well as their demise. and indeed, water is present throughout the story like a distant memory, written about poetically, whether it be the rain of toronto, a pier in amsterdam, or a return to the whales and frigatebirds in trinidad.

i want to start with bola, marie ursule's daughter. as she grows up, we see that she tasks herself with birthing several children by different men who intrigue her. this swath of children kind of jumpstart the book's ensuing family tree. some of the children are referred to by name, some by one small detail (ex. the one who loved gold things, the one who went in a basket, the one unrecalled, the one who stole her footsteps). the way that brand goes on to depict these characters and their descendants is with painful reality and grace at once. bola "spread her children around so that all would never be gathered in the same place to come to the same harm."

the phrase, "i am my ancestors' wildest dreams" echoed throughout my mind the entire time i was reading, because brand makes us question the very notion of being a near perfect descendant. one of the characters abandons her daughter, one becomes wrapped up in violent crime and harms his family, one pursues sex work and is ashamed to write to her parents back on the island, etc etc etc.

but all of this is in line with marie ursule's initial motivations. she was a woman who was "Dreaming her generations", had "taken account of forgetfulness and remembrances."

"If her descendants might emerge, sore and disturbed, in another century—well, it reflected only a moment in her mind, a little passion which she indulged herself in, and Bola would add the rest, all beginnings, all catastrophes, like lust."

marie ursule held her descendants to no expectations after saving them from the terror of the plantation, after offering them the luxury of forgetting, if nothing else. what we see, rather than triumphant black people being the "first" or doctors and lawyers and scholars, we see remnants of all of their grief and loss tied to each other even with marie ursule's hope to free them all from it.

and yet, they continue to return, brand does not give them victorious endings or tied up ends. she makes us sit with imperfection and uncertainty. i love her writing style, too. she writes in metaphors, each sentence filled with multiple meanings to the point that one may never know the truth of the matter, but all of it is beautiful.

the book ends with a woman named bola, who is not the mother of many but instead the daughter of one "mama" that she cannot let go of. she is of course named after bola, the mother of many, but wildly different than her as a character. aftter her mother dies, she becomes enamored with her ghost and becomes what i think is the neighborhood's "crazy lady," suffering from a kind of dementia and longstanding bereavement. she cannot let go of her mother and her memory and so she rots in her childhood home with the ghost of her mother by her side.

one last quote i liked, which i have more thoughts about in relation to the academic study of slavery and memory and which calls me to think of saidiya hartman a little:

"Nothing happened here. Nothing extraordinary for its time. Two nuns held slaves like any priest or explorer or settler in the New World. It is the others, the ones they held, who keep the memory, who imagine over and over again where they might be. It is they who keep these details alive and raw like yesterday. They twist and turn in all imaginations to come, in plain sight or in disguise. This fragile place and its muscular dreams. Nothing really happened here."

[Scarlett Bayliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

"At the Full and Change of the Moon" by Dionne Brand: A Poignant Exploration of Modernity, Diasporic Identity, and Trauma

Dionne Brand's novel, "At the Full and Change of the Moon," offers a profound and nuanced examination of the relationship between modernity and the sea. Through the masterful use of tidal imagery, diasporic identity, and themes of trauma, Brand portrays the enduring impact of the Middle Passage on the present-day experiences of the African diaspora. The novel delves into the complexities of identity, belonging, and the yearning for cultural connection.

Brand employs a tidal conceit throughout the book, symbolizing water as a metaphorical representation of movement and transport. Water becomes a carrier of symbolism, evoking passages of change and transformation. This powerful association between modernity and the sea holds implications for a new future for the Black Diaspora, highlighting the profound ways in which historical legacies continue to shape contemporary experiences.

I want a village and a sea shore and a rock out in the ocean and the certainty that when the moon is in the fall the sea will rise and for that whole time I will be watching what all of my ancestry have watched, for all ages.

One character, Adrian Dovett, exemplifies the struggles faced by individuals grappling with fractured identities. Detained in an INS camp as an 'illegal alien,' Adrian becomes vulnerable to exploitation by his distant relative Carlyle. He embodies a fragmented sense of self and wrestles with questions of belonging and identity. In his chapter, Brand employs a cyclical structure, opening and closing with Adrian lying on the floor, "shedding water" and "spewing up an ocean." Vivid imagery of "sea turtles and sea cockroaches" emerging from his mouth accentuates his disconnection from his past (p.204).

This portrayal of Adrian's literal bodily rejection of his history echoes the trauma of the Middle Passage. Brand's tidal conceit serves as a poignant reminder of the characters' yearning for escape from pain and a longing for connection with spirits and ancestors. Adrian's physical expulsion of the sea signifies his dislocation from the past and his struggle to find a cultural sense of belonging.

Throughout "At the Full and Change of the Moon," Dionne Brand skillfully navigates the complexities of modernity, diasporic identity, and trauma. The novel's exploration of the relationship between the sea and the characters' experiences serves as a powerful metaphor for the enduring legacy of the Middle Passage. By interweaving themes of water, movement, and cultural dislocation, Brand invites readers to reflect on the profound impact of historical events on individual lives and the ongoing struggle to forge a sense of identity and belonging.

In conclusion, "At the Full and Change of the Moon" is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant novel that delves into the intricate connections between modernity, diasporic identity, and the lasting trauma of the Middle Passage. Dionne Brand's skillful use of tidal imagery and thematic exploration offers readers a profound understanding of the ongoing struggles faced by the African diaspora. This captivating work of literature invites readers to contemplate the complexities of history, identity, and the enduring pursuit of belonging in a modern world shaped by past traumas.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wrote a review of this book, but no, I just dreamed I wrote a review of this book. I thought and dreamed and wrote a review of this book. But really, I couldn't have written a review of this book, I couldn't have thought that I wrote a review of this book and I couldn't have dreamt that I wrote a review of this book, because I died. I died a thousand years before and four thousand kilometres away from the time my mother was born and where she settled with my family of origin. I died and so couldn't have written a review of this book, couldn't have thought about it, couldn't have dreamt it. But here is someone reading this review. But this person is not really reading this review, they are just dreaming that they are reading this review in the same way I dreamt that I wrote this review but of course, I couldn't have written this review because I only dreamt it, dreamt it from the afterlife because I died. I died a thousand years before and four thousand kilometres away from the time my mother was born and where she settled with my family of origin. And yet, here is this review on this website that we have all dreamt exists but which really doesn't because it couldn't have written it, couldn't have thought about writing it, couldn't have dreamt it, because I died, I died a thousand years before and four thousand kilometres away from the time my mother was born and where she settled with my family of origin.

Oh, and then I will write some everyday prose to move on to the next part of the review where I say that every last person populating the latter part of the book - the entire book really - is a terrible, miserable person, a living terrible, miserable lives while doing terrible, miserable things to themselves and each other.

And I'll use a few more everyday sentences to say that I get it that this is an Important Book in Canadian Literature. I get that, and I added an entire extra star to my rating just for that. But I am profoundly grateful that I can return this book to the library, with my sympathies to the next person on the waitlist. I am glad I will never again have to interact with these characters and I will ensure that is the case but also avoiding any other books by this author.

But, it all doesn't matter, because I only dreamt that I read this book and you are only dreaming that you are reading this review. Because, you can't be reading this review because I died. I died a thousand years before and four thousand kilometres away from the time my mother was born and where she settled with my family of origin. So this review doesn't exist at all.

[Brigid Armbrust · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for multi-generational family sagas.

At the Full and Change of the Moon is one of the more interesting versions of that type of story I've encountered so far because it focuses less on the factual sequence of the lineage (the family tree at the beginning of the book is, I believe intentionally, somewhat vague), and more on the fragments of memory and connection that exist between relatives who have never met. There is a recurring theme of the blurry line between love and neglect that exists for many of the characters, who do not wish to pass their trauma on to their children, and so distance themselves from them physically and/or emotionally in an attempt to protect them, which of course never works out as planned. As this novel repeatedly demonstrates through its magical-realist imagery, emotional and embodied experiences of trauma can be passed down, even when factual information about the events that created them isn't. And emotional distance from a parent creates its own kind of trauma, which is then passed down as well. This book is about what we forget and what we remember, both consciously and subconsciously, about our ancestors. It is about what is passed on and what is lost to time and how that process happens in the bodies and minds of human beings. It is about how all this is shaped by colonialism, poverty, and the generational trauma of slavery.

I feel like I'm doing an awful job of describing this book/how amazing it is.... But the point is, go read it! The exquisite writing and creative story structure make reading this book an incredibly satisfying, haunting and emotionally intense experience.

[S P · Rating 3 out of 5]

52 ‘Maps are subjective things, borders move all the time [...] This map cannot note the great fluidity of maps [...] Paper does not halt land any more than it can halt thoughts. Or rain showers, for that matter. The best cartographer is only trying to hold water, to draw approximations of rocks, inclines, bays, depths, plains.’

205 ‘The liquid ran into his mouth, he spat. It tasted like blood. His skin was burning, a stinging spreading burning. Like a high starting at the back of his neck. He couldn’t see. He called out. Something soft, slippery, was in his hands. He remembered thinking that he never wanted to see the world again. Never. His eyes were in his hands.’

256 ‘If I had written enough words to you, perhaps I would save myself. If I had sent them to you instead of only writing them in my head or tracing them on the walls of subways in this city, perhaps I would hold myself together. As it is now with all the words lost and the things unwritten. All the paper bluing on your breath now could not save me.’

[Wyatt strawbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third to last chapter "Blue Airmail Letter" was so much better than all of the rest of the book. some of the themes, when Band finally got around to characters that repeated previous characters' in the lineage actions felt like they had significance and really meant something but it took so long. I felt like if this book was read aloud it would be a lot better and I know that Brand was and is a Poet too so it seemed like even though this was a poem originally it maybe should have stayed one, become an epic or sorts. With the way it is written, trying to be very figurative, I just don't think prose is the form for the story. It felt like in the more human 1st person letter format of the third to last chapter Brand could finally write in a way closer to that which fit the things in her mind. IDK. lots of symbolism. big timeline. confusing. very ambitious and I don't think it it worked out in the end