What do you think?
Rate this book
Show Me a Mountain
Fay Wong is a woman caught between worlds. Her father is a Chinese immigrant who conjured a fortune out of nothing; her mother, of African heritage, grew up on a plantation and now reigns over their mansion on Lady Musgrave Road, sipping Earl Grey tea in the Kingston afternoons.
But the Chinatown haunts where her father spends his time are out of bounds to Fay, and the rooms of Lady Musgrave Road are filled with her mother's long-kept secrets and uncontrollable rages-rages against which Fay rebels as she grows from a girl into a headstrong woman.
As she tries to escape the restraints of her privileged upbringing, striving for independence in a homeland that is trying to do the same, Fay's eyes are opened to a Jamaica she was never meant to see. She encounters gangsters and revolutionaries, priests and prostitutes, and witnesses great sacrifices and betrayals. But when her mother decides that she must marry the racketeer Yang Pao, she finds herself on a journey that leads to sacrifices and betrayals of her own.
In Show Me A Mountain, Kerry Young creates a vivid portrait of a woman and a country struggling to fashion a future unburdened by the past.
But the Chinatown haunts where her father spends his time are out of bounds to Fay, and the rooms of Lady Musgrave Road are filled with her mother's long-kept secrets and uncontrollable rages-rages against which Fay rebels as she grows from a girl into a headstrong woman.
As she tries to escape the restraints of her privileged upbringing, striving for independence in a homeland that is trying to do the same, Fay's eyes are opened to a Jamaica she was never meant to see. She encounters gangsters and revolutionaries, priests and prostitutes, and witnesses great sacrifices and betrayals. But when her mother decides that she must marry the racketeer Yang Pao, she finds herself on a journey that leads to sacrifices and betrayals of her own.
In Show Me A Mountain, Kerry Young creates a vivid portrait of a woman and a country struggling to fashion a future unburdened by the past.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 2016
12 people are currently reading
704 people want to read
About the author
Kerry Young
21 books57 followersKerry Young was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Chinese father and mother of mixed Chinese-African heritage. She came to England at the age of ten. Kerry’s background is in youth work where she worked both locally and nationally, and has also written extensively. She has Master’s degrees in organisation development and creative writing, and a PhD in youth work. Kerry Young is a Buddhist in the tradition of Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh. Her interests include Tai Chi, weight lifting and golf. She also loves jazz and plays alto and tenor saxophone.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 8, 2016
“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.”
----Rick Warren
Kerry Young , a Chinese African author, pens an incredibly heart breaking historical fiction, Show Me A Mountain that is set across the tropical Jamaican backdrop and it revolves around the life story of a half Chinese and half African woman growing up in an affluent household with a loving but non-caring father with ugly businesses and a mother with a terribly impulsive rage and that she deliberately ushered upon her little daughter. A story of losing love and again finding it through an exotic country and learning to forgive the past.
Synopsis:
Fay Wong is a woman caught between worlds. Her father is a Chinese immigrant who conjured a fortune out of nothing; her mother, of African heritage, grew up on a plantation and now reigns over their mansion on Lady Musgrave Road, sipping Earl Grey tea in the Kingston afternoons.
But the Chinatown haunts where her father spends his time are out of bounds to Fay, and the rooms of Lady Musgrave Road are filled with her mother's long-kept secrets and uncontrollable rages-rages against which Fay rebels as she grows from a girl into a headstrong woman.
As she tries to escape the restraints of her privileged upbringing, striving for independence in a homeland that is trying to do the same, Fay's eyes are opened to a Jamaica she was never meant to see. She encounters gangsters and revolutionaries, priests and prostitutes, and witnesses great sacrifices and betrayals. But when her mother decides that she must marry the racketeer Yang Pao, she finds herself on a journey that leads to sacrifices and betrayals of her own. In Show Me A Mountain, Kerry Young creates a vivid portrait of a woman and a country struggling to fashion a future unburdened by the past.
Fay, a barely 9 years old multi-racial girl in Jamaica is caught red handed by her African-origin mother, who then beats her up. Known for her uncontrollable rage against her own daughter and her immense love for the British and their culture, the mother constantly psychically abused Fay all through out her per-teenage days, until Fay finds a way to leave her palatial home on Lady Musgrave Road to live in a moderate and strict Catholic school. After graduation and devoid of her father's or mother's love she falls for a British refugee, who then too leaves her and travels back to England. Heartbroken Fay is soon set up by her cynical mother to marry a Chinese gangster, Fay is caught between the crossroads to become a spy or to become a loyal housewife for such a crooked man. What she chooses to do is for you to find out, so gran a copy of this book now, and lose yourself in the world of Fay and in the exotic beauty of Jamaica.
This is a soul touching story with a feel-good factor that will instantly make the readers feel delightful after reading this book, although the story will leave a gaping hole in the hearts of the readers. The author pens this tale in an interesting manner with lots of vivid details that will make the readers feel like they are experiencing each and every scenes right before their own eyes. This story reflects a fractured mother-daughter relations through ugly secrets and regrets and the reality in the dynamic of this mother-daughter duo is sympathetic and believable enough to make the readers connect with such a shaky relationship.
The author's writing is fantastic and the readers will find it easy to fathom with the story line. The emotions runs deep and syncs well with the flow of the scenes and the characters' demeanor. The narrative style of the book is bit dull yet poignant enough to pull the strings of the readers' hearts. The pacing is slow but near the climax, it catches up speed as the author rushes to tie up the loose ends but that is done quite immaculately. There are quite a lot of layers that unravel gradually through the course of the story, thereby making it intriguing enough for the readers to stay glued to the pages of this book.
The author paints the backdrop of this novel so intensely and with a myriad of colors that brings Jamaica alive in the 30s when the British ruled this tropical land. From the streets to the weather to the landscape to the food to the fashion to the then culture to its people, everything has been crafted so meticulously by the author. The timeline also syncs well with the story and it seems the author has done her research quite well, especially capturing the British dominated Jamaica so perfectly and the operation of the British army and the politics of the Queen's government.
The characters are not that well crafted out from their flaws or backstories to support their manners. In short, the characters left depth and their cliched behavior will make them look very uninteresting in the minds of the readers. In short, they will fail to leave any lasting impression even though their past and backstories are enough detailed to convince the readers with their current behavior.
In a nutshell, this is a captivating and extremely alluring enough to make the readers lose themselves in the charm of Jamaica and into Fay's sad and painful life story. A book to be devoured slowly over a glass of red wine and exotic fruits.
Verdict: A promising read!
Courtesy: Thanks to the author's publishers for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
----Rick Warren
Kerry Young , a Chinese African author, pens an incredibly heart breaking historical fiction, Show Me A Mountain that is set across the tropical Jamaican backdrop and it revolves around the life story of a half Chinese and half African woman growing up in an affluent household with a loving but non-caring father with ugly businesses and a mother with a terribly impulsive rage and that she deliberately ushered upon her little daughter. A story of losing love and again finding it through an exotic country and learning to forgive the past.
Synopsis:
Fay Wong is a woman caught between worlds. Her father is a Chinese immigrant who conjured a fortune out of nothing; her mother, of African heritage, grew up on a plantation and now reigns over their mansion on Lady Musgrave Road, sipping Earl Grey tea in the Kingston afternoons.
But the Chinatown haunts where her father spends his time are out of bounds to Fay, and the rooms of Lady Musgrave Road are filled with her mother's long-kept secrets and uncontrollable rages-rages against which Fay rebels as she grows from a girl into a headstrong woman.
As she tries to escape the restraints of her privileged upbringing, striving for independence in a homeland that is trying to do the same, Fay's eyes are opened to a Jamaica she was never meant to see. She encounters gangsters and revolutionaries, priests and prostitutes, and witnesses great sacrifices and betrayals. But when her mother decides that she must marry the racketeer Yang Pao, she finds herself on a journey that leads to sacrifices and betrayals of her own. In Show Me A Mountain, Kerry Young creates a vivid portrait of a woman and a country struggling to fashion a future unburdened by the past.
Fay, a barely 9 years old multi-racial girl in Jamaica is caught red handed by her African-origin mother, who then beats her up. Known for her uncontrollable rage against her own daughter and her immense love for the British and their culture, the mother constantly psychically abused Fay all through out her per-teenage days, until Fay finds a way to leave her palatial home on Lady Musgrave Road to live in a moderate and strict Catholic school. After graduation and devoid of her father's or mother's love she falls for a British refugee, who then too leaves her and travels back to England. Heartbroken Fay is soon set up by her cynical mother to marry a Chinese gangster, Fay is caught between the crossroads to become a spy or to become a loyal housewife for such a crooked man. What she chooses to do is for you to find out, so gran a copy of this book now, and lose yourself in the world of Fay and in the exotic beauty of Jamaica.
This is a soul touching story with a feel-good factor that will instantly make the readers feel delightful after reading this book, although the story will leave a gaping hole in the hearts of the readers. The author pens this tale in an interesting manner with lots of vivid details that will make the readers feel like they are experiencing each and every scenes right before their own eyes. This story reflects a fractured mother-daughter relations through ugly secrets and regrets and the reality in the dynamic of this mother-daughter duo is sympathetic and believable enough to make the readers connect with such a shaky relationship.
The author's writing is fantastic and the readers will find it easy to fathom with the story line. The emotions runs deep and syncs well with the flow of the scenes and the characters' demeanor. The narrative style of the book is bit dull yet poignant enough to pull the strings of the readers' hearts. The pacing is slow but near the climax, it catches up speed as the author rushes to tie up the loose ends but that is done quite immaculately. There are quite a lot of layers that unravel gradually through the course of the story, thereby making it intriguing enough for the readers to stay glued to the pages of this book.
The author paints the backdrop of this novel so intensely and with a myriad of colors that brings Jamaica alive in the 30s when the British ruled this tropical land. From the streets to the weather to the landscape to the food to the fashion to the then culture to its people, everything has been crafted so meticulously by the author. The timeline also syncs well with the story and it seems the author has done her research quite well, especially capturing the British dominated Jamaica so perfectly and the operation of the British army and the politics of the Queen's government.
The characters are not that well crafted out from their flaws or backstories to support their manners. In short, the characters left depth and their cliched behavior will make them look very uninteresting in the minds of the readers. In short, they will fail to leave any lasting impression even though their past and backstories are enough detailed to convince the readers with their current behavior.
In a nutshell, this is a captivating and extremely alluring enough to make the readers lose themselves in the charm of Jamaica and into Fay's sad and painful life story. A book to be devoured slowly over a glass of red wine and exotic fruits.
Verdict: A promising read!
Courtesy: Thanks to the author's publishers for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
September 24, 2017
This is the third of Kerry Young’s trilogy about Jamaica; the first two being Pao and Gloria. This novel focuses on Fay Wong, Pao’s wife. She has a Chinese father and a mother of African heritage. Fay grows up in the 1930s in a relatively privileged family, but suffering significant abuse from her mother, their volatile relationship continuing throughout the book. You might think that reading the same story from three different perspectives might become repetitive. However it doesn’t and the different perspectives add a depth and richness to the overall story and the history of Jamaica in this period. Show me a Mountain continues some of the themes of the earlier books; sexuality, gender, class and race. It also looks at family history and whether cycles of abuse and family histories have to be repeated.
We see very little of Pao himself in this novel, despite his arranged marriage to Fay and get to know other characters who play much more minor roles. An interesting point about this novel is that it ends when Fay leaves for England, much earlier than the other two novels and we learn nothing of Fay’s life in England. This is fair enough as the focus is Jamaica, but some hints would have been interesting. The development of the three main characters in interesting and obviously the rather negative picture of Fay in the first novel is much changed by the end of this one. Human relationships are complex and each of the novels add layers of complexity which enables the reader to see the positives and negatives in each character.
There is a bit more detail about the structure of the British colonial state and its attempts to control the population. Fay herself is a very different character to Pao and Gloria, she goes a minimal amount of work and spends a good deal of time seeming to get others into trouble; her faults are clear and obvious. Gloria, for me is the strongest character in the trilogy and I think the strongest book. This still does portray an aspect of Jamaican history and taken as a whole the three novels paint a very vivid picture of Jamaica from the 1930s to the 1960s.
We see very little of Pao himself in this novel, despite his arranged marriage to Fay and get to know other characters who play much more minor roles. An interesting point about this novel is that it ends when Fay leaves for England, much earlier than the other two novels and we learn nothing of Fay’s life in England. This is fair enough as the focus is Jamaica, but some hints would have been interesting. The development of the three main characters in interesting and obviously the rather negative picture of Fay in the first novel is much changed by the end of this one. Human relationships are complex and each of the novels add layers of complexity which enables the reader to see the positives and negatives in each character.
There is a bit more detail about the structure of the British colonial state and its attempts to control the population. Fay herself is a very different character to Pao and Gloria, she goes a minimal amount of work and spends a good deal of time seeming to get others into trouble; her faults are clear and obvious. Gloria, for me is the strongest character in the trilogy and I think the strongest book. This still does portray an aspect of Jamaican history and taken as a whole the three novels paint a very vivid picture of Jamaica from the 1930s to the 1960s.
December 28, 2020
Last in a really special trilogy, same events from point of view of three different characters. Stand alone but could also have been one massive book. Would make a brilliant mini series.
June 4, 2016
This book is superb! I relished every second and got totally involved with the characters.
Fay Wong is born into a privileged background and grows up in Jamaica as the country is on the brink of extreme political change. Her mother is of African heritage and grew up on a plantation and her father is a wealthy Chinese businessman. We experience Jamaica through Fay’s eyes and emotions, her friendships and relationships, her mistakes and learning. This author writes character in rich form and the reader accesses wealthy and poor, religious and secular, immigrants of Chinese and African heritage, the generation of Jamaicans and the British Colonial Officers. I empathised with Fay as she suffered her mother’s cruel discipline and made her naive way into the real world. I agonised over the consequences of her involvement with the British and the sometimes excruciating relationships with Isaac Dunkeley, Father Kealey and Yang Pao. I loved the strong female characters caught in their class and time, especially Sissy, GC and Beverley.
I had not previously read any of Kerry Young’s novels but will certainly be reading the previous books in this trilogy Pao and Gloria now I have caught a glimpse of these people in this story. I also enjoyed learning about a period of time in Jamaica from a different point of view. I thoroughly recommend this pulsating, exciting, absorbing and tender novel.
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. 5 stars.
Fay Wong is born into a privileged background and grows up in Jamaica as the country is on the brink of extreme political change. Her mother is of African heritage and grew up on a plantation and her father is a wealthy Chinese businessman. We experience Jamaica through Fay’s eyes and emotions, her friendships and relationships, her mistakes and learning. This author writes character in rich form and the reader accesses wealthy and poor, religious and secular, immigrants of Chinese and African heritage, the generation of Jamaicans and the British Colonial Officers. I empathised with Fay as she suffered her mother’s cruel discipline and made her naive way into the real world. I agonised over the consequences of her involvement with the British and the sometimes excruciating relationships with Isaac Dunkeley, Father Kealey and Yang Pao. I loved the strong female characters caught in their class and time, especially Sissy, GC and Beverley.
I had not previously read any of Kerry Young’s novels but will certainly be reading the previous books in this trilogy Pao and Gloria now I have caught a glimpse of these people in this story. I also enjoyed learning about a period of time in Jamaica from a different point of view. I thoroughly recommend this pulsating, exciting, absorbing and tender novel.
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. 5 stars.
June 10, 2024
This is the third in a trilogy of novels which began with the magnificent “Pao”. It has good bones. But there is a lot of fat which should have been trimmed by a dispassionate editor wielding a sharp pencil. There is the preachiness: part leftist manifesto and part Roman Catholic catechism (which may not be that different). There are far too many instances where the show don’t tell rule is completely ignored. There is Beverley’s son Junior. I cannot fathom why he was necessary. If he existed to show us that Beverley was capable of unspeakable callousness, it would have helped if the novel gave us insight (beyond the mere fact that Beverley was spoiled and self centred) into how someone so spoiled and self centred is formed.
Despite my reservations, I enjoyed this story. I was happy to hear Fay’s version of what went wrong in her marriage to Pao and especially happy to learn her back story. This novel redeemed her. She is no longer the one dimensional, over priviledged uptown girl we met in Pao, but a fully formed, complex human being. Like all of us.
Despite my reservations, I enjoyed this story. I was happy to hear Fay’s version of what went wrong in her marriage to Pao and especially happy to learn her back story. This novel redeemed her. She is no longer the one dimensional, over priviledged uptown girl we met in Pao, but a fully formed, complex human being. Like all of us.
December 17, 2020
Show me a Mountain, written by Kerry Young, an author of Chinese African origin is set in the Jamaica of 1930’s.
The story revolves round the protagonist, “Fay Wong” who is born out of an African mother and an migrant Chinese father. Despite being born in an affluent family Fay faces disdain from her mother and is chastised at the slightest. Her father loves her but is totally consumed by his business at Chinatown. That leaves the little girl wanting for love, which she finds in her nanny Sissy.
Fay who looks like a Chinese is constantly struggling to be treated as an insider in her own country. The book deals with apprehensions and the challenges associated with ethinicity, race colour, gender etc.
Despite her rebellious nature Fay fails to stand up against her mother’s wish to marry a racketeer Yang Pao.The only respite for Fay in this arrangement seems to be, of getting rid of her own mother’s constant rebuke. However, the resentment she has for her mother bites into her married life too. She makes one mistake after another until she finds herself in complete soup.
This is the 3rd book in the Jamaica trilogy the first two being Pao & Gloria which I haven’t read.. I think starting from the first book would have been a better idea. Nonetheless a well written book with a very touching story,only I couldn’t connect with the protagonist much.
#bookstagram #bibliophile #igreads #bookreview #instaread #lovetoread #booksarelife #readingisfundamental #whatimreading #bookreviewer #bookaddicts #bookpost #tbrpile #justread #bookishphotography #whattoreadnext #readallday #bookworms #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #bookpic #newreads #booknerd #whattoread
The story revolves round the protagonist, “Fay Wong” who is born out of an African mother and an migrant Chinese father. Despite being born in an affluent family Fay faces disdain from her mother and is chastised at the slightest. Her father loves her but is totally consumed by his business at Chinatown. That leaves the little girl wanting for love, which she finds in her nanny Sissy.
Fay who looks like a Chinese is constantly struggling to be treated as an insider in her own country. The book deals with apprehensions and the challenges associated with ethinicity, race colour, gender etc.
Despite her rebellious nature Fay fails to stand up against her mother’s wish to marry a racketeer Yang Pao.The only respite for Fay in this arrangement seems to be, of getting rid of her own mother’s constant rebuke. However, the resentment she has for her mother bites into her married life too. She makes one mistake after another until she finds herself in complete soup.
This is the 3rd book in the Jamaica trilogy the first two being Pao & Gloria which I haven’t read.. I think starting from the first book would have been a better idea. Nonetheless a well written book with a very touching story,only I couldn’t connect with the protagonist much.
#bookstagram #bibliophile #igreads #bookreview #instaread #lovetoread #booksarelife #readingisfundamental #whatimreading #bookreviewer #bookaddicts #bookpost #tbrpile #justread #bookishphotography #whattoreadnext #readallday #bookworms #booksofinstagram #bookwormproblems #bookaholic #bookpic #newreads #booknerd #whattoread
May 18, 2022
I picked up Show Me A Mountain by Kerry Young at my local station's book exchange, so it was a bit of a random selection.
It's about a Chinese girl, growing up in Jamaica in the 1930s and 1940s, eventually following her progress into adulthood, all the way to the 1960s. Fay had a complicated relationship with her abusive mother, doesn't really fit in anywhere, and grows increasingly concerned about developments in her birth country, once she has children of her own.
The book is well-written and engaging for the most part. The exploration of Fay's relationships with her parents, her siblings, various men (including British Army officials, lovers, a husband and a local priest), her children and her few friends is interesting and many-layered.
It's pretty depressing in the opening sections, but picks up once Fay reaches her teenage years, though it skips forwards in time quite rapidly for a bit, before settling down into a more steady narrative. Some of the history and politics seemed a bit dense and heavy-handed to me, but narrative went in some very unexpected directions at times, and I found the ultimate conclusion satisfying.
It's a vivid depiction of different nationalities living together during a turbulent time, with a strong viewpoint protagonist.
It's about a Chinese girl, growing up in Jamaica in the 1930s and 1940s, eventually following her progress into adulthood, all the way to the 1960s. Fay had a complicated relationship with her abusive mother, doesn't really fit in anywhere, and grows increasingly concerned about developments in her birth country, once she has children of her own.
The book is well-written and engaging for the most part. The exploration of Fay's relationships with her parents, her siblings, various men (including British Army officials, lovers, a husband and a local priest), her children and her few friends is interesting and many-layered.
It's pretty depressing in the opening sections, but picks up once Fay reaches her teenage years, though it skips forwards in time quite rapidly for a bit, before settling down into a more steady narrative. Some of the history and politics seemed a bit dense and heavy-handed to me, but narrative went in some very unexpected directions at times, and I found the ultimate conclusion satisfying.
It's a vivid depiction of different nationalities living together during a turbulent time, with a strong viewpoint protagonist.
December 18, 2017
Just a few weeks ago, PBS aired a documentary about a woman of Chinese and Jamaican ethnicity that goes on several trips to learn more about her ancestors. I happened to pick up Kerry Young's novel, "Show Me A Mountain" just beforehand and had to hold off until I finished a book club book.
Kerry Young is also of Chinese-Jamaican descent and now lives in England as highly-regarded professor and author of previous books. I was very excited to read this book and more stories about this ethnic group I had only recently learned about. What I got in the first 50 pages was staccato writing from the point of view of a prepubescent and then pubescent girl whose mother is abusive. Staccato writing can be very effective, but pages and pages of it is hard to process.
I decided to abandon this book and try another of Kerry Young's titles, "Pao," which won a few awards and is a story about a Chinese immigrant to Jamaica.
If anyone reads this review and can encourage me to keep going because the book gets better, please do!
Kerry Young is also of Chinese-Jamaican descent and now lives in England as highly-regarded professor and author of previous books. I was very excited to read this book and more stories about this ethnic group I had only recently learned about. What I got in the first 50 pages was staccato writing from the point of view of a prepubescent and then pubescent girl whose mother is abusive. Staccato writing can be very effective, but pages and pages of it is hard to process.
I decided to abandon this book and try another of Kerry Young's titles, "Pao," which won a few awards and is a story about a Chinese immigrant to Jamaica.
If anyone reads this review and can encourage me to keep going because the book gets better, please do!
June 28, 2023
This is one of 3 novels about characters who are part of each. This is the last one Kerry Young wrote. Because I'm unfamiliar with the place and time of the novel, it took me a while to settle into the story. I tend to have more sympathy for people who're poor rather than the wealthy. This novel took me into a different world and when I'd adjusted to it, I was hooked. A page-turner, yes, but thought provoking. For example, one of the characters says, 'But people, if they believe in self, can overcome anything. Even a mountain.' So, yes, I wanted to know what was going to happen next, but... thinking was equally important.
Read
September 21, 2021This is Kerry' Young's third book about the Chinese Community in Jamaica. It Follows 'Pao' & 'Gloria' All three are good reads. Kerry is able to weave historical and political facts about the early development of the island. However to enjoy "Show Me a Mountain" the reader needs to have read the 1st 2 novels.
July 21, 2020
Not what I expected. But still a gripping read. An insight into the history of Jamaica through the eyes of a girl/woman part Chinese part African heritage. An emotional story of violence, gangsters, and abusive parents.
August 4, 2021
This book kept me reading. The book dealt with a multi-ethnic, dysfunctional family in Jamaica. I didn’t care for Fay through most of the book. She was spoiled and self-absorbed. I do feel that she learned some valuable lessons and that is how the book ends.
September 7, 2018
Interesting characters, set against the colourful background of Kingston. A touch of history entwined through the personal story of Fay the main character.
Read
May 13, 2021Brilliant!
April 30, 2023
Love this author and enjoyed this book. Didn’t realize until the end that it was #3 of a trilogy. Whoops. Still a great book.
October 9, 2017
This book was alright, interesting to hear about how life was in Jamaica. Some parts were hard to understand for my little brain.
March 2, 2017
Having read Kerry Young's Previous books, Pao and Gloria, I was really looking forward to reading this. These Three books are a concurrent trilogy of each characters life and their interactions with each other. Maybe my expectations were too high, but this book fell short of what I was expecting.
Show Me a Mountain is Fay's story. We Learn a lot more about Fay's background and upbringing which is good. However, there is a lot of repetition of the main body of the story without much additional information by having Fay's perspective, and this is why I felt let down by this book.
I also found some parts of the story at bit unbelievable - the UK army asking her to act as a spy to out Communist sympathizers was a bit too much for me. And really didn't justify her actions in my opinion.
That said, the writing was good, with good use of accessible vernacular. The descriptions of Jamaican social and political issues of the time was again well done.
I enjoy reading this but didn't love it.
Show Me a Mountain is Fay's story. We Learn a lot more about Fay's background and upbringing which is good. However, there is a lot of repetition of the main body of the story without much additional information by having Fay's perspective, and this is why I felt let down by this book.
I also found some parts of the story at bit unbelievable - the UK army asking her to act as a spy to out Communist sympathizers was a bit too much for me. And really didn't justify her actions in my opinion.
That said, the writing was good, with good use of accessible vernacular. The descriptions of Jamaican social and political issues of the time was again well done.
I enjoy reading this but didn't love it.
February 25, 2017
Loved his book!!!
March 22, 2017
Interesting story of Jamaica and the turmoils there in the early to mid part of the last century.
August 3, 2017
Interesting story but doesn't quite gel together. Fay Wong is a Chinese/Jamaican girl/woman in the Depression/World War II era living her life in Jamaica. Her father was an immigrant and now her mother lives in a mansion. But life is not easy and her mother is very unhappy. Fay grows up, hoping to escape but gets caught up in intrigue, an arranged marriage to a man with his own secrets and not quite the happiness she thought she might find.
I forgot what drew me to the book but it sounded like an interesting tale. I've learned a bit about the Chinese in Jamaica in the past few years so it seemed like reading a fiction book about this community would be an interesting read. And while I think author Young did a good job in putting the reader in that place and that era, something about the book felt very empty.
The story kept me going and I wanted to know what happened but it felt a bit like a cooked dish that wasn't quite done. Or it was done but it hasn't had a chance to "sit" for a bit and really bring out the flavors and tastes. In some ways it seemed like there was no "plot", just Fay growing up, trapped in an arranged marriage and made to spy for the British military on her own husband (Pao) and people she associates with. The characters were interesting but I couldn't fully bring myself to care about them. I did want to know more about background characters that ended up disappearing (Stanley, Freddie) partially due to the war and for other reasons. But I wasn't particularly driven or emotionally attached to any of them.
I had not fully realized that this is actually the third of a trilogy but I felt that I could grasp the story just fine with just having read this book. That may have something to do with how I feel about it.
It was an okay read overall. It might sit better with someone who's read the first two books but I'm not inclined to go and read the other two (which I understand covers the lives of Fay's husband Pao and his mistress, Gloria) unless I could get them for free and have nothing else to do. I thought this book did well as a binge read--I ended up reading it in about a day. So if you're say stuck in the airport and/or need to occupy your flight time then this wouldn't be a bad bet. I'm not sure it's the kind of book that would have kept me going if I was forced to put it down for more than a day. Borrow from the library or buy as a bargain book to leave behind at the end of your trip.
I forgot what drew me to the book but it sounded like an interesting tale. I've learned a bit about the Chinese in Jamaica in the past few years so it seemed like reading a fiction book about this community would be an interesting read. And while I think author Young did a good job in putting the reader in that place and that era, something about the book felt very empty.
The story kept me going and I wanted to know what happened but it felt a bit like a cooked dish that wasn't quite done. Or it was done but it hasn't had a chance to "sit" for a bit and really bring out the flavors and tastes. In some ways it seemed like there was no "plot", just Fay growing up, trapped in an arranged marriage and made to spy for the British military on her own husband (Pao) and people she associates with. The characters were interesting but I couldn't fully bring myself to care about them. I did want to know more about background characters that ended up disappearing (Stanley, Freddie) partially due to the war and for other reasons. But I wasn't particularly driven or emotionally attached to any of them.
I had not fully realized that this is actually the third of a trilogy but I felt that I could grasp the story just fine with just having read this book. That may have something to do with how I feel about it.
It was an okay read overall. It might sit better with someone who's read the first two books but I'm not inclined to go and read the other two (which I understand covers the lives of Fay's husband Pao and his mistress, Gloria) unless I could get them for free and have nothing else to do. I thought this book did well as a binge read--I ended up reading it in about a day. So if you're say stuck in the airport and/or need to occupy your flight time then this wouldn't be a bad bet. I'm not sure it's the kind of book that would have kept me going if I was forced to put it down for more than a day. Borrow from the library or buy as a bargain book to leave behind at the end of your trip.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews