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The polished hoe: A novel
Winner of the 2002 Scotiabank Giller Prize and of the 2003 Commonwealth Writers’ Best Book (Canada and the Caribbean)
When an elderly Bimshire village woman calls the police to confess to a murder, the result is a shattering all-night vigil that brings together elements of the African diaspora in one epic sweep. Set on the post-colonial West Indian island of Bimshire in 1952, The Polished Hoe unravels over the course of 24 hours but spans the lifetime of one woman and the collective experience of a society informed by slavery.
As the novel opens, Mary Mathilda is giving confession to Sargeant, a police officer she has known all her life. The man she claims to have murdered is Mr. Belfeels, the village plantation owner for whom she has worked for more than thirty years. Mary has also been Mr. Belfeels’ mistress for most of that time and is the mother of his only son, Wilberforce, a successful doctor.
What transpires through Mary’s words and recollections is a deep meditation about the power of memory and the indomitable strength of the human spirit. Infused with Joycean overtones, this is a literary masterpiece that evokes the sensuality of the tropics and the tragic richness of Island culture.
When an elderly Bimshire village woman calls the police to confess to a murder, the result is a shattering all-night vigil that brings together elements of the African diaspora in one epic sweep. Set on the post-colonial West Indian island of Bimshire in 1952, The Polished Hoe unravels over the course of 24 hours but spans the lifetime of one woman and the collective experience of a society informed by slavery.
As the novel opens, Mary Mathilda is giving confession to Sargeant, a police officer she has known all her life. The man she claims to have murdered is Mr. Belfeels, the village plantation owner for whom she has worked for more than thirty years. Mary has also been Mr. Belfeels’ mistress for most of that time and is the mother of his only son, Wilberforce, a successful doctor.
What transpires through Mary’s words and recollections is a deep meditation about the power of memory and the indomitable strength of the human spirit. Infused with Joycean overtones, this is a literary masterpiece that evokes the sensuality of the tropics and the tragic richness of Island culture.
462 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
109 people are currently reading
3119 people want to read
About the author
Austin Clarke
108 books99 followersAustin Ardinel Chesterfield Clarke was a Canadian novelist, essayist and short story writer who lives in Toronto, Ontario. He has been called "Canada's first multicultural writer".
Clarke had his early education in Barbados and taught at a rural school for three years. In 1955 he moved to Canada to attend the University of Toronto but after two years turned his hand to journalism and broadcasting. He was a reporter in the Ontario communities of Timmins and Kirkland Lake, before joining the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a freelance journalist. He subsequently taught at several American universities, including Yale, Duke and the University of Texas.
In 1973 he was designated cultural attaché at the Barbadian embassy in Washington, DC. He was later General Manager of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation in Barbados (1975-1977).
Returning to Canada, in 1977 he ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the Ontario election. He was writer in residence at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec and at University of Western Ontario.From 1988 to 1993 he served on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
Clarke had his early education in Barbados and taught at a rural school for three years. In 1955 he moved to Canada to attend the University of Toronto but after two years turned his hand to journalism and broadcasting. He was a reporter in the Ontario communities of Timmins and Kirkland Lake, before joining the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a freelance journalist. He subsequently taught at several American universities, including Yale, Duke and the University of Texas.
In 1973 he was designated cultural attaché at the Barbadian embassy in Washington, DC. He was later General Manager of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation in Barbados (1975-1977).
Returning to Canada, in 1977 he ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the Ontario election. He was writer in residence at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec and at University of Western Ontario.From 1988 to 1993 he served on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 221 reviews
November 11, 2019
I didn't LOVE this book, but I didn't hate it, either. If you're expecting a mystery, sorry, this book isn't it. It reads more like historical fiction, but the author tells the story through dialogue that goes into EXTREME digression many times which can be quite off-putting! Some characters (e.g. the Constable) were pointless, and if the sex scenes (real or imagined) by the Sargeant were meant to be titillating, well, they didn't work for me. Although the story is set in post-colonial Barbados during the 1930's and '40's, I was a little confused by the references to plastic bags (which came out in the late '60's) as well as Buffalo wings (supposedly first served publicly in 1964). Also, the author should have consulted an atlas before stating that Lake Superior borders Buffalo, N.Y. Would I read this book again and/or recommend it to others? Nope!
November 13, 2012
If you ever want to fall asleep fast READ THIS BOOK! Worst book i've ever read this year. The history of Brimshaw was interesting but it wasn't captivating enough to want to speed through the book. I just kept wondering if 1 of 2 things were going to happen...was she gonna do it or was she gonna tell him? It was painful to get to the end, but I made it...thankfully.
February 19, 2024
Well, as I said during my progress, I had a hardcover edition sitting on my shelves, since this book won the 2002 Giller Prize.
To be honest, I don’t think that I would have enjoyed it as much as I did now, 22 years later.
The majority of my friends absolutely hated this book, so I was expecting to be bored. But I was surprisingly blown away by the storytelling.
I was completely hooked and fascinated from the beginning to the end.
Although its development is a slow one, I didn’t feel a moment of boredom.
How delightful!
And the audiobook narrated by Robin Miles is fantastic!
I did read and listened to the audiobook simultaneously. What a a double joy!
The storytelling is superb!
The descriptions are beautifully detailed. Even the passion and lust were captured perfectly.
But there are also heartbreaking and shocking accounts.
This is not a book of action or a thriller, and I know it will not please everyone, but I loved everything about it.
The main character introduces interesting characters through out her accounts of her life and what she knows about other generations.
It’s practically a monologue (there are plenty of dialogues through her accounts).
The conclusion, although gory, was perfect, especially after so many years of abuse.
In this book, the power of memory is the real focus.
I think that what really drawn me to this is that I could feel a lot of heart within the pages. It’s a work of love.
PS. this author was born in Barbados and used to live in Toronto, where he passed away on June 26, 2016.
Hardcover (2002 edition) by Thomas Allen Publishesers: 462 pages (there are no author’s notes, acknowledgments, introduction or foreword).
Ebook (Kobo -original edition): 538 pages (default), 156k words
Ebook (Kobo -20th a edition - with a new foreword by Rinaldo Walcott): 592 pages (default), 161k words (I may go to the bookstore just to read the foreword)
Audiobook narrated by Robin Miles: 18.8 hours (normal speed) - highly recommended
To be honest, I don’t think that I would have enjoyed it as much as I did now, 22 years later.
The majority of my friends absolutely hated this book, so I was expecting to be bored. But I was surprisingly blown away by the storytelling.
I was completely hooked and fascinated from the beginning to the end.
Although its development is a slow one, I didn’t feel a moment of boredom.
How delightful!
And the audiobook narrated by Robin Miles is fantastic!
I did read and listened to the audiobook simultaneously. What a a double joy!
The storytelling is superb!
The descriptions are beautifully detailed. Even the passion and lust were captured perfectly.
But there are also heartbreaking and shocking accounts.
This is not a book of action or a thriller, and I know it will not please everyone, but I loved everything about it.
The main character introduces interesting characters through out her accounts of her life and what she knows about other generations.
It’s practically a monologue (there are plenty of dialogues through her accounts).
The conclusion, although gory, was perfect, especially after so many years of abuse.
In this book, the power of memory is the real focus.
I think that what really drawn me to this is that I could feel a lot of heart within the pages. It’s a work of love.
PS. this author was born in Barbados and used to live in Toronto, where he passed away on June 26, 2016.
Hardcover (2002 edition) by Thomas Allen Publishesers: 462 pages (there are no author’s notes, acknowledgments, introduction or foreword).
Ebook (Kobo -original edition): 538 pages (default), 156k words
Ebook (Kobo -20th a edition - with a new foreword by Rinaldo Walcott): 592 pages (default), 161k words (I may go to the bookstore just to read the foreword)
Audiobook narrated by Robin Miles: 18.8 hours (normal speed) - highly recommended
February 12, 2022
Clarke's book is a difficult one to read and is certainly not for those looking for a quick escape with a happy ending. The action of the story takes place over a single night, but it covers years of the life on a small West Indian island that had it's beginnings in slavery. Mary-G is a black woman born to as a fourth generation slave on this island. Like her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother before her she worked in the fields for a white overseer on a sugar cane plantation. She also follows them in another area-that of a white man's plaything. These women are all slaves so cannot question their lot, or say no to the unwelcome advances. Mary-G goes on like this for years as a casual sex toy for the white overseer. She is placed in a nice home, and she has three children by this man (only one lives), but she has been alienated from her fellow black friends by this show of favouritism. She is lonely and whiles the time away by raising her son and by reading. Then one day she has just had enough and she takes matters into her own hands. She exacts revenge for all of her anscestors. This book is about choices (limited or otherwise), and the results of those choices. The book is actually set in the time of the 30's and 40's (post-colonial because this island was a British colony). Clarke has created some powerful characters in this book. They are certainly not going to be forgotten by me for quite some time. This book is another worthy winner of the prestigious Giller prize.
October 14, 2009
The language is what I remember from this book. The most startling revelations coming to us in a dialect most earthy, real, and expressive. The cover art was the first thing that brought this exceptional voice to my attention, but it was not long before I realized this was Literature writ large. I look forward to his latest exploration of race and language.
January 13, 2020
Holy hell, Austin Clarke’s The Polished Hoe. The story of a woman who has committed a crime against a man who represents many things in her life, not least of all, the key holder to her gilded cage. She recounts the story of her crime over one long night to a police constable who she has known from childhood, and who shares some of her secrets, many of her desires, and a reasonable amount of fear for the woman she has become. Through this meandering telling, the reader experiences the multilayered reach of class and race on the post-WWII Caribbean island of Bimshire, which many of us know as Barbados. This book is a slow burn, it is long and it is complicated, and you earn it as you labour through it. There are many stories in this one night where so many secrets are spilled and feelings are revealed and histories are recounted, but for me, this book was mostly about how they can try put a positive spin on the “gifts” that come with the people and systems that oppress us, surely the most false justification of colonialism, but that we hear true freedom beckon us from beyond the sparkling trinkets of our oppression, and that we will find our way back to ourselves no matter what we have to sacrifice, or how hard we have to fight to get there. Our time will come, and our truth will tell.
July 18, 2014
First, I'll start with the good.
I listened to the audio of this book. The narration was wonderful. I loved the accent, the emphasis and the pacing of the reading. It added a dimension and texture to the story.
I enjoyed the history of Bimshire (Barbados). This book covers a gamut of historical issues: slavery, class distinctions, opportunities (or not) of the people, climate. In here is world of many levels, people subdued & terrified, people empowered by wealth; there's a subtlety of the many different aspects that make up a society. Things one wouldn't normally see when "just visiting". The society in Bimshire is an insecure one if one lives in the wrong level within the society.
However, this book repeats, repeats, repeats the stories over and over and over again. It's incredibly tedious and boring in that respect. This book needs a lot of editing. Take out the repetitiveness and the story would be marvellous.
The ending? Nothing comes as a surprise but it's a fitting ending.
I listened to the audio of this book. The narration was wonderful. I loved the accent, the emphasis and the pacing of the reading. It added a dimension and texture to the story.
I enjoyed the history of Bimshire (Barbados). This book covers a gamut of historical issues: slavery, class distinctions, opportunities (or not) of the people, climate. In here is world of many levels, people subdued & terrified, people empowered by wealth; there's a subtlety of the many different aspects that make up a society. Things one wouldn't normally see when "just visiting". The society in Bimshire is an insecure one if one lives in the wrong level within the society.
However, this book repeats, repeats, repeats the stories over and over and over again. It's incredibly tedious and boring in that respect. This book needs a lot of editing. Take out the repetitiveness and the story would be marvellous.
The ending? Nothing comes as a surprise but it's a fitting ending.
January 8, 2009
I will always finish a book, not matter what. This book though was tough to finish, mainly because it is is written in old slave dialect. Ugh!
May 27, 2019
I really want my review of this book to do it justice. I have owned this book for almost 20 years and it had a place of honor on my bookshelves. I finally read it. The author's literary skill is unquestioned. The book was well written with some very literate thoughts and passages. The characters were quite well developed. The style was very reminiscent of the style of Dolores Claiborne, in which the whole story is told by Dolores giving her statement to the police. Throughout the whole book it only Delores' voice that we hear. Stephen King should have won many accolades for that accomplishment. That book was amazing. This book felt like a failed attempt to mimick that style using Mary Mathilda giving her statement to either the constable or finally Percy, the Sargent. It didn't
work. In The Polished Hoe, the author got wordy, repeated stories and the characters got lost in their own imaginings and sexual fantasies making the book, at times, confusing and at other times incredibly boring.
One thing that I hate is when authors take liberties with facts that can be easily checked out. Once you get something so wrong I don't want to give you a second chance. Buffalo chicken wings didn't exist until the mid to late 1960s not post World War II. In addition, the Great Lake near Buffalo is Lake Erie not Lake Superior. These minor irritations along with copying Mr. King annoyed me and took away some of the credibility of the novel.
It was a sad, sad story, slave story. How horrible human beings can be to each other and how justice is in the eyes of the powerful. The dialect is lovely and the history and stories of the island were interesting including how the police kept an eye on Nazi's, u-boats and spying. I loved the justness of her crime. The using of the hoe, her cherished tool, that was the symbol of her labor, toil and slavery, to uproot the weed that was the bane of her existence. The whole unrequited, unable to act upon love story between Mary Mathilda and Percy was painful and poignant. The horror of having your only child at the hands of your probable father unfathomable. I found the relationships between the grandmother and mother and Mary Mathilda to be incredible powerful relationships fraught with struggle and pain on so many levels yet bound together by love and survival.
How can all that good get mired in words that make it a struggle to get through? Is that the lack of a good editor? I stuck with it because I wanted it to get better, (SPOILER ALERT) I wanted to see what she actually did (last three pages) and I wanted to see what happened to her after (no), many possibilities were explored and yet Percy takes her away (what?) and I wanted to see if Percy and her finally did "it" (no). I really wanted to like it and I wanted to be fair. There are many good points to this book but, ugh, I'm donating it and I'm not asking any of my friends to read it. What does that tell you? So, even though I could rate it as high as a 2.5-2.75 I cannot get to three stars.
work. In The Polished Hoe, the author got wordy, repeated stories and the characters got lost in their own imaginings and sexual fantasies making the book, at times, confusing and at other times incredibly boring.
One thing that I hate is when authors take liberties with facts that can be easily checked out. Once you get something so wrong I don't want to give you a second chance. Buffalo chicken wings didn't exist until the mid to late 1960s not post World War II. In addition, the Great Lake near Buffalo is Lake Erie not Lake Superior. These minor irritations along with copying Mr. King annoyed me and took away some of the credibility of the novel.
It was a sad, sad story, slave story. How horrible human beings can be to each other and how justice is in the eyes of the powerful. The dialect is lovely and the history and stories of the island were interesting including how the police kept an eye on Nazi's, u-boats and spying. I loved the justness of her crime. The using of the hoe, her cherished tool, that was the symbol of her labor, toil and slavery, to uproot the weed that was the bane of her existence. The whole unrequited, unable to act upon love story between Mary Mathilda and Percy was painful and poignant. The horror of having your only child at the hands of your probable father unfathomable. I found the relationships between the grandmother and mother and Mary Mathilda to be incredible powerful relationships fraught with struggle and pain on so many levels yet bound together by love and survival.
How can all that good get mired in words that make it a struggle to get through? Is that the lack of a good editor? I stuck with it because I wanted it to get better, (SPOILER ALERT) I wanted to see what she actually did (last three pages) and I wanted to see what happened to her after (no), many possibilities were explored and yet Percy takes her away (what?) and I wanted to see if Percy and her finally did "it" (no). I really wanted to like it and I wanted to be fair. There are many good points to this book but, ugh, I'm donating it and I'm not asking any of my friends to read it. What does that tell you? So, even though I could rate it as high as a 2.5-2.75 I cannot get to three stars.
December 9, 2019
I'm so torn by this book. I think it should have been edited back by (gulp) approximately two thirds. It is *beautifully* written and has such power and such voice but it reaches an almost insurmountable lag in the middle, and it feels like the reading equivalent of climbing Everest to work through it. How many readers didn't have the stamina and missed the ending? (Or were they generally more clever and just skipped to the back of the book?)
This book is a treatise on slavery, colonialism, racism, sexism, poverty, religion. The entire book is set over one evening and early morning, somewhere in the West Indies. Ninety percent of the book is told in Mary Gertrude Matilda's voice, in a crazy monologue that is like nothing else I've ever read. (The reader keeps track of who is speaking by the end quotation marks.) Within the first pages, Mary hints at murder with the polished hoe she started using at the age of eight when she first started working in the fields - a play on words as both the farm implement and Mary herself are the "polished hoe." Mary's history is the history of the island. Her great beauty, her brown skin color, her privilege, is her burden. The story is told in thirds, and there are many other threes - one example being location: the plantation, the tunnel, the sugar cane fields, each representing a phase of Mary's life.
Clarke leaves the reader with many questions:
--Why murder the old guy now? He *is* still having sex with Gertrude, at least, so she is helping other women...
--How is the Sargent taking all this? Mary has admitted herself an unreliable narrator. We know Sargent has put Mary on a pedestal for decades; we know the entire town hates Bellfeels. However, women have a place in this Caribbean male world, and being the strong one, the one able to conquer Bellfeels, may not sit well in this incredibly masculine world.
Timeline attempt:
Sometime before 1910 - Ma was sixteen; was raped by Bellfeels during George V's visit
Some Easter Sunday Mary met Bellfeels; she was six to eight years old
WWI were "Ma's days"
Wilberforce was born in 1919; his skin is very light
1924 - Bellfeels gives Mary Matilda the Steinway
Ma dies @ 78
~1949 - When book was set...? Mary-Matilda is in her fifties at the time of the novel.
Themes:
--The irony of evil practiced by people who sit in church week after week
--The irony of the uncivilized behavior practiced by the English upon "the savages"
--Money cannot buy forgiveness
--The many faces a single individual can have; Mary is both respected and scorned
--Trials between men and women; women's use of sex as a tool
This book is a treatise on slavery, colonialism, racism, sexism, poverty, religion. The entire book is set over one evening and early morning, somewhere in the West Indies. Ninety percent of the book is told in Mary Gertrude Matilda's voice, in a crazy monologue that is like nothing else I've ever read. (The reader keeps track of who is speaking by the end quotation marks.) Within the first pages, Mary hints at murder with the polished hoe she started using at the age of eight when she first started working in the fields - a play on words as both the farm implement and Mary herself are the "polished hoe." Mary's history is the history of the island. Her great beauty, her brown skin color, her privilege, is her burden. The story is told in thirds, and there are many other threes - one example being location: the plantation, the tunnel, the sugar cane fields, each representing a phase of Mary's life.
Clarke leaves the reader with many questions:
--Why murder the old guy now? He *is* still having sex with Gertrude, at least, so she is helping other women...
--How is the Sargent taking all this? Mary has admitted herself an unreliable narrator. We know Sargent has put Mary on a pedestal for decades; we know the entire town hates Bellfeels. However, women have a place in this Caribbean male world, and being the strong one, the one able to conquer Bellfeels, may not sit well in this incredibly masculine world.
Timeline attempt:
Sometime before 1910 - Ma was sixteen; was raped by Bellfeels during George V's visit
Some Easter Sunday Mary met Bellfeels; she was six to eight years old
WWI were "Ma's days"
Wilberforce was born in 1919; his skin is very light
1924 - Bellfeels gives Mary Matilda the Steinway
Ma dies @ 78
~1949 - When book was set...? Mary-Matilda is in her fifties at the time of the novel.
Themes:
--The irony of evil practiced by people who sit in church week after week
--The irony of the uncivilized behavior practiced by the English upon "the savages"
--Money cannot buy forgiveness
--The many faces a single individual can have; Mary is both respected and scorned
--Trials between men and women; women's use of sex as a tool
December 10, 2019
Slap my face and wake me up. This book depleted my patience by page 50.
Like clickbait, I was drawn in by the book cover and plot summary involving the confession of a crime by an otherwise sensible and honorable person.
I only finished it as part of a reading challenge as there are not many easily obtainable books set in Barbados.
The themes involving the oppression and degradation of women could have reached so much potential. Unfortunately the story imploded on itself. There were more tangents than actual points made. Eg they walked into an ominous room only to focus on some wall pictures and then delve into the history and meaning of half a dozen of them and then go ‘oh my memory again, what was I saying? Why we’re in this room. Did you know this room was built by’ bla bla bla and yet another tangent.
It took alot of loud sighing and quickly turned pages to slog through this.
I think the story would have been better told if there was a tour guide leading a tour about the morbid history of the island than what ended up being.
If you need to keep reading this just to find out what happened, just go to the last 15 pages or so and get it over with.
I feel bad to the author for writing this review. Hopefully he never sees it.
Like clickbait, I was drawn in by the book cover and plot summary involving the confession of a crime by an otherwise sensible and honorable person.
I only finished it as part of a reading challenge as there are not many easily obtainable books set in Barbados.
The themes involving the oppression and degradation of women could have reached so much potential. Unfortunately the story imploded on itself. There were more tangents than actual points made. Eg they walked into an ominous room only to focus on some wall pictures and then delve into the history and meaning of half a dozen of them and then go ‘oh my memory again, what was I saying? Why we’re in this room. Did you know this room was built by’ bla bla bla and yet another tangent.
It took alot of loud sighing and quickly turned pages to slog through this.
I think the story would have been better told if there was a tour guide leading a tour about the morbid history of the island than what ended up being.
If you need to keep reading this just to find out what happened, just go to the last 15 pages or so and get it over with.
I feel bad to the author for writing this review. Hopefully he never sees it.
June 4, 2012
Okay, I don't do this very often but....I am not finishing this book. I got about halfway through and I CAN'T GO ON!! This book won an award so I pushed through hoping that it would get better but I just can't go any further. Story line is WAY too slow and everything is described in too much detail. Time line also jumps all over the place. Just can't seem to get into the story line or even the characters for that matter. Sorry Autin Clarke! Can't recommend this book.
February 5, 2020
...But all that we possess to hand-down is love. And bitterness. And blood. And anger. And all four, wrap-up in one narrative...-Mary.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Austin Clarke did it. This book had me all up in my feelings and gave me all kinds of feels. The Polished Hoe is sweeping in what it accomplishes: in just a night, Mary Mathilda and Percy outline, dissect and examine the history and present of their little island of Bimshire; they also draw parallels and negotiate the similar strata that bind and divide the Caribbean; as well as deeply considering their desires and wants, their hopes and aspirations, their struggles and disparities.
🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎
Through both Mathilda and Percy's memories, we understand their realization of the implications of their history, of what was expected of them and how they would be used by those in power. This book explores the colonial power structure left behind, the delineation between the standing of men and women in society, by colour, name and wealth.
🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
Throughout Mary Mathilda's narration, she builds the visage of her island, the people that have lived and died there, the secrets that always come to light, much like the waves to the shore and the overarching community that is the people of Bimshire. There is contemplation, rumination and reminiscing that culminates in a night filled with memories and recollections of a woman and a man who for some time shared a similar upbringing and labouring, before their paths branched and took them to different destinies, as Mary Mathilda builds towards her full confession.
🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠
Clarke paints a vivid picture of life on this lush island, still caught in the grips of colonialism; the dark desires that can be harboured for years; the dynamics of social standing and stratification, and the struggles of those who are free but yet still shackled by and to colonial powers.
🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Austin Clarke did it. This book had me all up in my feelings and gave me all kinds of feels. The Polished Hoe is sweeping in what it accomplishes: in just a night, Mary Mathilda and Percy outline, dissect and examine the history and present of their little island of Bimshire; they also draw parallels and negotiate the similar strata that bind and divide the Caribbean; as well as deeply considering their desires and wants, their hopes and aspirations, their struggles and disparities.
🦎🦎🦎🦎🦎
Through both Mathilda and Percy's memories, we understand their realization of the implications of their history, of what was expected of them and how they would be used by those in power. This book explores the colonial power structure left behind, the delineation between the standing of men and women in society, by colour, name and wealth.
🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
Throughout Mary Mathilda's narration, she builds the visage of her island, the people that have lived and died there, the secrets that always come to light, much like the waves to the shore and the overarching community that is the people of Bimshire. There is contemplation, rumination and reminiscing that culminates in a night filled with memories and recollections of a woman and a man who for some time shared a similar upbringing and labouring, before their paths branched and took them to different destinies, as Mary Mathilda builds towards her full confession.
🐠🐠🐠🐠🐠
Clarke paints a vivid picture of life on this lush island, still caught in the grips of colonialism; the dark desires that can be harboured for years; the dynamics of social standing and stratification, and the struggles of those who are free but yet still shackled by and to colonial powers.
🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
September 27, 2014
The Sergeant and Mary Gertrude Matilda have known each other since childhood, and they have always been in love. They have lived separate lives, however: she with her son and her big house and all the learning she's been able to garner, he with his friends and his job and his lovers. She's watched him all these years. He's been too shy.
He arrives in the evening, ready to take her statement, and the two talk until morning. They talk of their lives, of their histories, of their longings, of the history and inequities of Bimshire (Barbados). They recall their friends, and they talk about their acquaintances. He upholds the law; she mourns the history of the British and the Africans who live under it.
This is a beautiful, lyrical, haunting novel. Each story spins into a thousand other stories. As the night continues, the richness of this novel and these stories are woven into a sky full of stars, and the end is exactly what needs to be.
A beautiful book.
He arrives in the evening, ready to take her statement, and the two talk until morning. They talk of their lives, of their histories, of their longings, of the history and inequities of Bimshire (Barbados). They recall their friends, and they talk about their acquaintances. He upholds the law; she mourns the history of the British and the Africans who live under it.
This is a beautiful, lyrical, haunting novel. Each story spins into a thousand other stories. As the night continues, the richness of this novel and these stories are woven into a sky full of stars, and the end is exactly what needs to be.
A beautiful book.
November 23, 2011
I had this book on my book shelf for at least 4 years before I read it. I had read Austin Clarke before and loved his writing style - and just knew this was a book I wanted to read. But you need time to read this book - and you need to be patient, oh so patient to listen to the side stories, knowing the truth was coming.
I have read the book twice now - the first time too fast because I so wanted to know what the answer was to the question posed - and you wait right to the very, very end for that answer - and it is so worth that wait!!! A fantastic ending!
I read the book a second time, no rush for the ending this time, to enjoy the side stories.
A thick book that engages the eyes for reading - but the writing style and brilliance is that for me while reading I truly felt that I was being read to.
Loved it. And will read it again for sure.
I have read the book twice now - the first time too fast because I so wanted to know what the answer was to the question posed - and you wait right to the very, very end for that answer - and it is so worth that wait!!! A fantastic ending!
I read the book a second time, no rush for the ending this time, to enjoy the side stories.
A thick book that engages the eyes for reading - but the writing style and brilliance is that for me while reading I truly felt that I was being read to.
Loved it. And will read it again for sure.
August 29, 2010
I didn't care for this book at all. I'm surprised I even finished the book.
December 4, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
January 8, 2016
Here is the crux of it; here is the difficulty; here is the price of Mary Mathilda's life and role:
"This is Mary-Mathilda's life. Paid for by Mr. Bellfeels. But in a more serious manner, in a more deep and romantic way, her life is paid for by her body. Has always been. It is therefore HER life; and her life only. She owns it." Wow. And I mean it. Powerful, empathetic, feminist, painful, realistic.
Another reminder of the importance of fiction and imagination (not the illness Wilberforce implies): "A person can be anywhere she wants to, Wilberforce tells me, even if the person has never actually been there. And this is the kind of journey I am taking you on."
I remember this song from (Oh goddess, what was her name?--she was with Dionne Brand at the time. Faith Nolan, yes. Rascally gal, but although this isn't from her originally, she sang it too, and I can still hear her amazing voice, and the other songs she sang:
"If you're white," Gertrude said, "You're right.
If you're brown, you can stick around.
But if you black, you gotta stay a waaaaay back!"
And here's the important thing. There is white privilege and there is black injustice. A white man does not get charged with his wife's murder because she is a whore, but three black men fighting for better working conditions and wages are beaten and there was talk of lynchings. There is no justice. There has been no justice, even in Barbados. Everywhere.
This book is the history of slavery throughout the new world, as well as the story of Bimshire and the mystery that surrounds MGMP, and the reason the Sargeant pays her a visit, to take her Statement on this Sunday evening. What did she do?
And she says: "Slaves is slaves. Bimshire slaves are Bimshire slaves. And Amurcan slaves are Amurcan slaves. But slaves are slaves." So true. Even now.
Clarke has written this like a play, I realize. The dialogue is paramount and the descriptions are like stage directions or background information.
Why reading fiction is so important--the most important part of education (and I gave it up for soooooooooo long, too long):
"I see things when I sit-down in my chair, and I am studying. And I see things when I dream. And I cannot make a distinction between living-out a story, and reading a story." And then Clarke goes on to talk about story being the same as fact, in the segregation in the States when our heroine (our true heroine) went to visit with her white lover who was really her master, and her his slave.
Such an amazing book, this. Deep, spiritual, painful, feminist, black, history, herstory, therestory, it's all here. Inspiration for our move:
"Listening to foreign music is natural to me, because I live in a island. And because the water surrounding we, the Carbean Sea, is the same water flowing here from the oceans of the world, one being the Atlantic, everything that that Atlantic Ocean brings in, with the currents, touches the way we live in this Island; and in any other island in the Wessindies. And I just love to listen to the way foreigners talk, although I don't understand one damn thing they're saying."
Thus, this brilliant and painful book BEGINS.
"'MY NAME IS MARY. People in this Village clale me Mary-Mathilda. Or, Tilda, for short. To my mother I was Mary-girl. My names I am christen with are Mary Gertrude Mathilda, but I don't use Gertrude, because my maid has the same name. My surname that people 'bout-here uses, is either Paul, or Bellfeels, depending on who you speak to...'
'Everybody in Flagstaff Village knows you as Miss Bellfeels, ma'am,' the Constable says. 'And they respects you.'
'Nevertheless, Bellfeels is not the name I want attach to this Statement that I giving you...'"
June 2, 2020
The Polished Hoe is my idea of what "literature" must be: Latin without translation, sentences that go on for a page and a half, it's own dialect, and yet like other books which are held in great esteem but are difficult to read, the story underneath all this is compelling.
Miss Mary Gertrude Mathilda, mistress of the Great House, on a plantation on the island of Bimshire (Barbados), has called the police substation to provide a statement to the Sargeant. The Sargeant first sends the Constable to listen to Miss Mary, and as she goes on, the Constable falls asleep. The Sargeant is stalling, because he knows what Miss Mary has done, and does not want to hear about it.
The Sargeant finally arrives and the night goes on. Miss Mary and the Sargeant play a cat and mouse game, as she knows that he knows what she has done, but neither wants to face it. The book takes place over one night, but through the dialogue between Miss Mary and the Sargeant, we learn a lot about the history of Bimshire and the personal histories of Miss Mary and the Sargeant. They have known each other since they were children, and are almost the same age, yet their lives on Bimshire have been very different. A moral dilemma comes in to play as Miss Mary and the Sargeant wrest with the best course of action in the "circumstances."
This book is slow to develop, and like the Constable, I almost fell asleep during the first part. But once the story gets going, and Miss Mary and the Sargeant go back and forth with their memories, it starts to grab your attention. A worthwhile read if you want something to think about and some original language to ponder. Giller Prize winner 2002. One more GIller to go!
Miss Mary Gertrude Mathilda, mistress of the Great House, on a plantation on the island of Bimshire (Barbados), has called the police substation to provide a statement to the Sargeant. The Sargeant first sends the Constable to listen to Miss Mary, and as she goes on, the Constable falls asleep. The Sargeant is stalling, because he knows what Miss Mary has done, and does not want to hear about it.
The Sargeant finally arrives and the night goes on. Miss Mary and the Sargeant play a cat and mouse game, as she knows that he knows what she has done, but neither wants to face it. The book takes place over one night, but through the dialogue between Miss Mary and the Sargeant, we learn a lot about the history of Bimshire and the personal histories of Miss Mary and the Sargeant. They have known each other since they were children, and are almost the same age, yet their lives on Bimshire have been very different. A moral dilemma comes in to play as Miss Mary and the Sargeant wrest with the best course of action in the "circumstances."
This book is slow to develop, and like the Constable, I almost fell asleep during the first part. But once the story gets going, and Miss Mary and the Sargeant go back and forth with their memories, it starts to grab your attention. A worthwhile read if you want something to think about and some original language to ponder. Giller Prize winner 2002. One more GIller to go!
April 19, 2012
Austin Clarke presents a captivating tale of murder, mystery, and tyranny. The mistress of Mr. Bellfeels, a powerful landowner in the country of Bimshire, known commonly as Barbados, calls the local police to confess a crime. In her confession, she tells a story of life, love, and subjugation as the unfortunate lover of a sickening man, but no one could be prepared for the horrible truths she unveils.
The novel itself is a difficult read, with current speaker and point of view often becoming very confusing. In tone, structure, and execution, the novel is flawless, leaving the reader in suspense until the very end. The nuances of every sentence and layers of meaning give the book a completely different feel from the first time you read it to the next, making you want to read it again and again to catch every subtlety. Austin Clarke’s novel pushes the reader into the shoes of the subjugated, forcing them to tackle the issues of feminism head on and makes you wonder just how far you would be willing to go to take back your life. A slice of the Caribbean and a dark picture of the treatment of women, The Polished Hoe is a tale asking the civilized world “Just how civilized are we?”.
The novel itself is a difficult read, with current speaker and point of view often becoming very confusing. In tone, structure, and execution, the novel is flawless, leaving the reader in suspense until the very end. The nuances of every sentence and layers of meaning give the book a completely different feel from the first time you read it to the next, making you want to read it again and again to catch every subtlety. Austin Clarke’s novel pushes the reader into the shoes of the subjugated, forcing them to tackle the issues of feminism head on and makes you wonder just how far you would be willing to go to take back your life. A slice of the Caribbean and a dark picture of the treatment of women, The Polished Hoe is a tale asking the civilized world “Just how civilized are we?”.
October 15, 2019
A really tough read - covering 24 hours in the story over 460 pages - this is a commitment to read. Very descriptive and informative, good character development but I struggled to the end. And still I don't know if Percy takes her statement and charges her. An informative detailed description into plantation life. Well written. LONG.
June 16, 2015
The downside of e-reading is that, when you buy a book that is a total yawn-fest, you can't pass it on to a friend who might actually enjoy it. I've read about 30% of this and I can't go on. Maybe I'll give it another try in a couple of months.
September 22, 2013
I really wanted to like it. Parts I did like but I found I just couldn't take the repetitive reminiscing and language. I listened to it and the performance was great, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to read it if it was written in the vernacular. I quit on disc 5.
September 10, 2020
I don't usually write reviews, but I felt compelled.
This book captivated my attention with it's cover image. A promise of slavery tales and that was not left unsatisfied. The way this book was written implies that the author wanted to bring out these stories in an unconventional way. Something, which may rub some people the wrong way. After having read one bad review.... I can deduce that the reader has a short span for suspense.
Based on the writing, as you read, you already can guess what happened. But try as you might, you must read till the very end to know the motive and how it happened or did it? Hahaha Go ahead and read it if you're so curious.
It was a plus that I have visited the island of Barbados and to some point could picture myself in the story as it unwinded. I would read it again, but I do have many more books to go before the year has ended.
This book captivated my attention with it's cover image. A promise of slavery tales and that was not left unsatisfied. The way this book was written implies that the author wanted to bring out these stories in an unconventional way. Something, which may rub some people the wrong way. After having read one bad review.... I can deduce that the reader has a short span for suspense.
Based on the writing, as you read, you already can guess what happened. But try as you might, you must read till the very end to know the motive and how it happened or did it? Hahaha Go ahead and read it if you're so curious.
It was a plus that I have visited the island of Barbados and to some point could picture myself in the story as it unwinded. I would read it again, but I do have many more books to go before the year has ended.
April 22, 2019
This was a great read, I love how the author tells a bit of history about Barbados. Lady of the night is one of the most popular plants in Barbados and around the Carribean which is shown in the book. I love the main character as well as the plot throughout the book.
October 8, 2025
I found the vernacular writing style really difficult to get into, and the storytelling felt chaotic and hard to follow. I gave it a fair shot, but it just wasn’t working for me. Ended up putting it down before finishing.
August 8, 2024
Incredible portrait of the common place horrors of slavery, violation of human rights, and the disgusting abuse of power.
March 17, 2025
This book had potential, and I think I would’ve enjoyed it more in a different writing style. Maybe I’m not familiar enough with Joycean writing, but it had so much long-winded detail with random tangents that made it very slow and difficult to get through. I considered giving up on this book a few times but I don’t think I’ve ever not finished a book before, so I powered through.
May 21, 2020
Tough read based on the writing, but can see why it won some awards.
December 30, 2019
So. Much. Dialogue. I thought they’d never stop talking. I skimmed most of it. Read a few interesting historical bits. Then, mercifully it was over.
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