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De Rightest Place
Indira Gabriel, recently abandoned by her lover, Solomon, embarks on a project to reinvigorate a dilapidated bar into something special. In this warm, funny, sexy, and bittersweet novel, Barbara Jenkins draws together a richly-drawn cast of characters, like a Trinidadian Cheers. Meet Bostic, Solomon’s boyhood friend, who is determined to keep the bar as a shrine; I Cynthia, the tale-telling Belmont maco; KarlLee, the painter with a very complicated love-life; fatherless Jah-Son; and Fritzie, single mum and Indira’s loyal right-hand woman.
At the book’s center is the unforgettable Indira, with her ebullience and sadness, her sharpness and honesty, obsession with the daily horoscope and addiction to increasingly absurd self-help books. In this warm, funny, sexy, and bittersweet novel, Barbara Jenkins hears, like Sam Selvon, the melancholy behind “the kiff-kiff laughter,” as darkness from Indira’s past threatens her drive to make a new beginning.
At the book’s center is the unforgettable Indira, with her ebullience and sadness, her sharpness and honesty, obsession with the daily horoscope and addiction to increasingly absurd self-help books. In this warm, funny, sexy, and bittersweet novel, Barbara Jenkins hears, like Sam Selvon, the melancholy behind “the kiff-kiff laughter,” as darkness from Indira’s past threatens her drive to make a new beginning.
- GenresFiction
278 pages, Paperback
Published September 6, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 20, 2021
Yuh see, sometimes yuh does have to give people business enough space, enough time, for people to shape it fuh theyself. Yuh have to treat it with respeck. Respeck for the individual and respeck for the space too.
Jenkins' first novel is a proper slice of life, polyvocal tale about a particular community of peoples who relate to each other in, around, and through a bar called De Rightest Place and its proprietors: Indira and Bostic, in Belmont, Trinidad. A master world builder, she deployed diction, syntax, characters, soundscape, and visuals to create at the start an immediately immersive environment in about 100 words. If the first chapter title "I Cynthia - Belmont Maco" doesn't make you chuckle—I had to google the word "maco"—the first paragraph with the neighbour blasting the radio for everyone in the yard to enjoy (who asked him for that?) and the Martinique vendor coming down the street shouting out her wares may make you smile, as I did.
It's one of those deceptively simple novels, easy to underestimate the craft needed to maintain such a wide cast of characters, each with their own distinctive voice, and a shifting perspective that moves from different thirds to first person perspectives, often within a single chapter. Many chapters contain self-contained character stories yet Jenkins never loses a novel's cohesiveness. And when so many writers have written adoring voluntaries to our food, cooking, and cuisine, Jenkins odes to food here brought genuine delight, even glee, rather than eye rolls.
Much of this is due to her writing style which sings. If you love Ingrid Persaud's LOVE AFTER LOVE for how she rendered Trinidad & Tobago's vernacular you must read this one. It's no surprise that the author sold me on her work with a reading included on the publisher's podcast New Caribbean Voices. The layering in of different cosmologies (Christian, Yoruba (likely as Trinidad Orisha), Hindu), astrology, Carnival and all its attendant folklore, make for a rich reading experience which any reader can feel even as they may not be as versed in them as a T&T reader.
The best candidates for main characters are Indira and Bostic who I still think about. I remain amazed at the tenderness, sensitivity, and poignancy Jenkins imbued in Bostic's feelings about his relationship with his best friend Solo. He was, clearly, the love of his life. Indira learned harsh lessons from a painful past and uses it to her present advantage with no hesitancy, indeed often with success. Jenkins created a white character and gave her a backstory in which that whiteness we usually understand as a privilege brings her the worst attention.
Know that there is no driving plot here, no single easily defined conflict or dilemma facing any one character. National emergencies get about the same attention as a mural painting project. It's the way we relate to our own lives—what happens on the corner has as much if not more import than what's in the headlines. These characters deal with a lot of things of varying magnitude, doing their best to survive, enjoy life, and find fulfillment, often in ways they never expected, that once seemed beyond them. Enter the space with love and respect to watch them take shape, ravel and unravel, never quite completed, even at the last page.
Bookstagram | Twitter | The Book Slut
Jenkins' first novel is a proper slice of life, polyvocal tale about a particular community of peoples who relate to each other in, around, and through a bar called De Rightest Place and its proprietors: Indira and Bostic, in Belmont, Trinidad. A master world builder, she deployed diction, syntax, characters, soundscape, and visuals to create at the start an immediately immersive environment in about 100 words. If the first chapter title "I Cynthia - Belmont Maco" doesn't make you chuckle—I had to google the word "maco"—the first paragraph with the neighbour blasting the radio for everyone in the yard to enjoy (who asked him for that?) and the Martinique vendor coming down the street shouting out her wares may make you smile, as I did.
It's one of those deceptively simple novels, easy to underestimate the craft needed to maintain such a wide cast of characters, each with their own distinctive voice, and a shifting perspective that moves from different thirds to first person perspectives, often within a single chapter. Many chapters contain self-contained character stories yet Jenkins never loses a novel's cohesiveness. And when so many writers have written adoring voluntaries to our food, cooking, and cuisine, Jenkins odes to food here brought genuine delight, even glee, rather than eye rolls.
Much of this is due to her writing style which sings. If you love Ingrid Persaud's LOVE AFTER LOVE for how she rendered Trinidad & Tobago's vernacular you must read this one. It's no surprise that the author sold me on her work with a reading included on the publisher's podcast New Caribbean Voices. The layering in of different cosmologies (Christian, Yoruba (likely as Trinidad Orisha), Hindu), astrology, Carnival and all its attendant folklore, make for a rich reading experience which any reader can feel even as they may not be as versed in them as a T&T reader.
The best candidates for main characters are Indira and Bostic who I still think about. I remain amazed at the tenderness, sensitivity, and poignancy Jenkins imbued in Bostic's feelings about his relationship with his best friend Solo. He was, clearly, the love of his life. Indira learned harsh lessons from a painful past and uses it to her present advantage with no hesitancy, indeed often with success. Jenkins created a white character and gave her a backstory in which that whiteness we usually understand as a privilege brings her the worst attention.
Know that there is no driving plot here, no single easily defined conflict or dilemma facing any one character. National emergencies get about the same attention as a mural painting project. It's the way we relate to our own lives—what happens on the corner has as much if not more import than what's in the headlines. These characters deal with a lot of things of varying magnitude, doing their best to survive, enjoy life, and find fulfillment, often in ways they never expected, that once seemed beyond them. Enter the space with love and respect to watch them take shape, ravel and unravel, never quite completed, even at the last page.
Bookstagram | Twitter | The Book Slut
August 13, 2020
De Rightest Place is where you visit, but you never want to leave…
In Barbara Jenkins De Rightest Place we meet Indira who is originally from India. She was in England when she met and felt in love with Solomon, also known as Solo. Solo was in England pursing a dream his father wanted for him, but his dream was to be a Pan Musician. In meeting Indira he fell in-love and took her to Trinidad and Tobago to start a life together. Through a stroke of luck, Solo manages to buy a building in Belmont and converts the downstairs to a bar that he calls DE RIGHTEST PLACE, upstairs he lives happily with Indira. With the bar Solo can live out his dream of a Pan-Player, every night is a fete at DE RIGHTEST PLACE. Solo and his bandmates were offered the opportunity to visit Canada to play for Caribana. Solo goes to Canada and does not return…
After waiting around for with no word from Solo for years, Indira must now face the fact that she is on her own and Solo is never coming back. In an effort to get a new lease on life Indira comes up with a plan to make De Rightest Place financially viable so it will be her pension plan for the future. Starting over is hard, especially when it feels like everyone is against you but Indira persists.
Told from the different point of views of some of the main patrons of De Rightest Place we get a very layered look into life in Trinidad, and more specifically the community of Belmont. We hear from the community maco I Cynthia, the bar manager Bostic along with other members who let you know exactly how life unravels at De Rightest Place.
Filled with unforgettable characters, Barbara Jenkins brought to life the patrons at who visits De Rightest Place. I loved that the author used the bar as the grounding force of the story because that is truly a Caribbean thing. I loved how realistic the writing and the characters’ response to problems where. The author also manages to make mention of some of the historical things that took place during the time the book was set- from the coup to other notable events.
This is truly a laugh out loud and heart-warming look into contemporary Trinidad life. The theme of community and love was STRONG and beautifully executed. Yes, I felt some parts of the plot dragged a little and the book could have been wrapped up sooner but over a really delightful read.
Solid 3.5
In Barbara Jenkins De Rightest Place we meet Indira who is originally from India. She was in England when she met and felt in love with Solomon, also known as Solo. Solo was in England pursing a dream his father wanted for him, but his dream was to be a Pan Musician. In meeting Indira he fell in-love and took her to Trinidad and Tobago to start a life together. Through a stroke of luck, Solo manages to buy a building in Belmont and converts the downstairs to a bar that he calls DE RIGHTEST PLACE, upstairs he lives happily with Indira. With the bar Solo can live out his dream of a Pan-Player, every night is a fete at DE RIGHTEST PLACE. Solo and his bandmates were offered the opportunity to visit Canada to play for Caribana. Solo goes to Canada and does not return…
After waiting around for with no word from Solo for years, Indira must now face the fact that she is on her own and Solo is never coming back. In an effort to get a new lease on life Indira comes up with a plan to make De Rightest Place financially viable so it will be her pension plan for the future. Starting over is hard, especially when it feels like everyone is against you but Indira persists.
Told from the different point of views of some of the main patrons of De Rightest Place we get a very layered look into life in Trinidad, and more specifically the community of Belmont. We hear from the community maco I Cynthia, the bar manager Bostic along with other members who let you know exactly how life unravels at De Rightest Place.
Filled with unforgettable characters, Barbara Jenkins brought to life the patrons at who visits De Rightest Place. I loved that the author used the bar as the grounding force of the story because that is truly a Caribbean thing. I loved how realistic the writing and the characters’ response to problems where. The author also manages to make mention of some of the historical things that took place during the time the book was set- from the coup to other notable events.
This is truly a laugh out loud and heart-warming look into contemporary Trinidad life. The theme of community and love was STRONG and beautifully executed. Yes, I felt some parts of the plot dragged a little and the book could have been wrapped up sooner but over a really delightful read.
Solid 3.5
August 5, 2019
Really loved this. Its so full of charm and heart. Its well crafted and full of Trinidadian authenticity. I hope its picked up by a wider audience. Defentley a must if you like local heartwarming characters and are a fan of "fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe".
July 31, 2020
This is a lovely, welcoming and uplifting book about life in Belmont. The author creates a vibrant sense of place with her cast of regulars and employees of the bar at the centre of the story. People have compared it to Sam Selvon -- it also reminded me of Earl Lovelace's descriptions of communal life. The author creates a rather complicated backstory for her main character, Indira which for me was a bit jarring and didn't feel necessary. But I loved reading the book, imagining myself in the bar, and finding out about the lives of all the wonderful characters.
October 4, 2024
This was an important read. Barbara Jenkins explores and addresses serious topics frontally, but often in a humorous manner that makes this an easy read. I like the use of Trinidadian Creole in bringing the novel's characters to life, making them relatable. I also think Jenkins leaves room for the reader's interpretation of the main points she was driving at, which is excellent in this case because there are subtle guide posts along the way in the novel that steer the reader in the right direction.
I particularly had a huge problem with the timelines and timing of some of the scenes. I felt the author infused technology and use of technology from the decade ahead in some of the earlier scenes, such as someone taking a selfie ca. 2007. This is hard to believe in this context.
Some of the editing needed to be tightened up as there were instances such as Fritzie being called into her daughter's school on Glorious Saturday that were just hard to comprehend.
Nonetheless, I think Barbara Jenkins for the most part nailed it with this offering.
I particularly had a huge problem with the timelines and timing of some of the scenes. I felt the author infused technology and use of technology from the decade ahead in some of the earlier scenes, such as someone taking a selfie ca. 2007. This is hard to believe in this context.
Some of the editing needed to be tightened up as there were instances such as Fritzie being called into her daughter's school on Glorious Saturday that were just hard to comprehend.
Nonetheless, I think Barbara Jenkins for the most part nailed it with this offering.
October 6, 2024
This is a story about Belmont Village in Trinidad, and a rootless white woman who was neither born nor raised in the twin island republic.
A novel with a white protagonist is a hard sell to an English speaking Caribbean readership. The oldest of our nations are only two generations removed from a literary tradition which, as Olive Senior lamented:
Told us nothing about ourselves
There was nothing about us at all
How those pale northern eyes and
aristocratic whispers once erased us
How our loudness, our laughter debased us
So I worried about self-inflicted erasure. And sanctioning cultural appropriation. I raised an eyebrow at the dreadlock wearing, dashiki sporting protagonist Indira Gabriel who had followed her Rastafarian husband to Trinidad. But before I could channel Kendrick Lamar to chant, “They Not Like Us”, I got to know her; an Indian born woman, raised by Indian adoptive parents, who in all probability were Dalit. This woman had been through some things! And in this story of community and chosen family, for her own survival, Indira Gabriel will embrace the loudness, the laughter, that far from debasing us, are the forces that sustain us.
A novel with a white protagonist is a hard sell to an English speaking Caribbean readership. The oldest of our nations are only two generations removed from a literary tradition which, as Olive Senior lamented:
Told us nothing about ourselves
There was nothing about us at all
How those pale northern eyes and
aristocratic whispers once erased us
How our loudness, our laughter debased us
So I worried about self-inflicted erasure. And sanctioning cultural appropriation. I raised an eyebrow at the dreadlock wearing, dashiki sporting protagonist Indira Gabriel who had followed her Rastafarian husband to Trinidad. But before I could channel Kendrick Lamar to chant, “They Not Like Us”, I got to know her; an Indian born woman, raised by Indian adoptive parents, who in all probability were Dalit. This woman had been through some things! And in this story of community and chosen family, for her own survival, Indira Gabriel will embrace the loudness, the laughter, that far from debasing us, are the forces that sustain us.
November 26, 2020
I really hate to say that I was disappointed, but I was.
I loved the way the book was written. The Trinidadian dialect made for slower reading, having to really focus to fully comprehend, but it also added to the feeling of being of being immersed in the story.
Part 1 was good. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and was looking forward to more of their story.
Part 2 I couldn’t put down. This is where we got to learn Indira’s, the main character’s, history. We started to understand who she was and where and what she came from. But not fully. So I was anxious to learn more.
Part 3 was a letdown. Indira became much less sympathetic of a character and started to annoy me, only worried about herself and not sure of what she wanted. We never learned more about her past (nor did any of the other characters) and just watched her flail in search of what she wanted from life. And, unfortunately, she seemed to not take into account how it affected others as she figured it out. Also, what she does decide she wants, which I won’t put in here to avoid spoiling, does not seem to jibe with the character developed in the first two parts of the story.
Given my disappointment with the last third of the story, I considered giving only 3 stars, but I really did love the style and quality of the writing and would certainly read more by Barbara Jenkins, so I feel it warrants 4 stars.
I loved the way the book was written. The Trinidadian dialect made for slower reading, having to really focus to fully comprehend, but it also added to the feeling of being of being immersed in the story.
Part 1 was good. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and was looking forward to more of their story.
Part 2 I couldn’t put down. This is where we got to learn Indira’s, the main character’s, history. We started to understand who she was and where and what she came from. But not fully. So I was anxious to learn more.
Part 3 was a letdown. Indira became much less sympathetic of a character and started to annoy me, only worried about herself and not sure of what she wanted. We never learned more about her past (nor did any of the other characters) and just watched her flail in search of what she wanted from life. And, unfortunately, she seemed to not take into account how it affected others as she figured it out. Also, what she does decide she wants, which I won’t put in here to avoid spoiling, does not seem to jibe with the character developed in the first two parts of the story.
Given my disappointment with the last third of the story, I considered giving only 3 stars, but I really did love the style and quality of the writing and would certainly read more by Barbara Jenkins, so I feel it warrants 4 stars.
April 6, 2022
I enjoyed 'De Rightest Place'.
Story-wise and theme-wise this was refreshingly different from anything I've read recently. There's a lightness to the story-telling, and a toughness to the characters that kept the story more at the cognitive level for me; which is to say, I found 'De Rightest Place' to be a book I appreciated and respected, rather than fell in love with. And that is by no means a criticism. Some books speak to our heads and others to our hearts. Some do both. And any story might work differently from one reader to another.
With 'De Rightest Place' there's plenty to appreciate and respect: the bold approach to the narration and the clever use of 'I, Cynthia' was pulled off with impressive smoothness. I was never lost, though we move from one point of view to another quite often.
It's written in a lively flowing style, easy to read, with delightfully and cleverly authentic Trini dialogue.
Something of the resilience and determination of the everyday Trini - and much of the contemporary stress of everyday life was captured in this story.
Sometimes a book is described as a love letter, but I'd say this one is a tribute - a tribute to Belmont and to the hard-working folks of Trinidad and Tobago.
Story-wise and theme-wise this was refreshingly different from anything I've read recently. There's a lightness to the story-telling, and a toughness to the characters that kept the story more at the cognitive level for me; which is to say, I found 'De Rightest Place' to be a book I appreciated and respected, rather than fell in love with. And that is by no means a criticism. Some books speak to our heads and others to our hearts. Some do both. And any story might work differently from one reader to another.
With 'De Rightest Place' there's plenty to appreciate and respect: the bold approach to the narration and the clever use of 'I, Cynthia' was pulled off with impressive smoothness. I was never lost, though we move from one point of view to another quite often.
It's written in a lively flowing style, easy to read, with delightfully and cleverly authentic Trini dialogue.
Something of the resilience and determination of the everyday Trini - and much of the contemporary stress of everyday life was captured in this story.
Sometimes a book is described as a love letter, but I'd say this one is a tribute - a tribute to Belmont and to the hard-working folks of Trinidad and Tobago.
July 1, 2023
3.5 stars
This one was such a good time!
De Rightest Place follows several characters who work at a pub, but mainly Indira, the owner. Her husband has left and now she’s trying to turn the pub back into the success it once was.
This didn’t have much of a plot to it, we’re mainly just following these characters and vibing but I really liked that. I enjoyed reading about these chat and their lives and everything that each of them are going through. I loved reading about the growth of their relationships and the friendships and camaraderie that are at the heart of this novel.
The highlight of this book for me was the writing. Jenkins wrote this in a way that completely pulled me in. It did take a while for me to get used to the writing style, as there’s no quotation and it can switch between first and third person, but it did not take long for me to get into it. I loved the way things were described. I loved some of the discussions on poverty.
Very glad I picked this one up for Read Caribbean Month.
This one was such a good time!
De Rightest Place follows several characters who work at a pub, but mainly Indira, the owner. Her husband has left and now she’s trying to turn the pub back into the success it once was.
This didn’t have much of a plot to it, we’re mainly just following these characters and vibing but I really liked that. I enjoyed reading about these chat and their lives and everything that each of them are going through. I loved reading about the growth of their relationships and the friendships and camaraderie that are at the heart of this novel.
The highlight of this book for me was the writing. Jenkins wrote this in a way that completely pulled me in. It did take a while for me to get used to the writing style, as there’s no quotation and it can switch between first and third person, but it did not take long for me to get into it. I loved the way things were described. I loved some of the discussions on poverty.
Very glad I picked this one up for Read Caribbean Month.
May 18, 2019
Shortlisted for the inaugural Christopher Bland Prize, given to a work first published by an author over fifty.
https://rsliterature.org/award/rsl-ch...
Though this is author Barbara Jenkins first novel she has won much attention for her short stories. I found this story about a woman running and improving the Trinidadian bar of the title a well-crafted and interesting story. It covers several years in which we see the main character growing and changing along with other characters involved in running the pub.
https://rsliterature.org/award/rsl-ch...
Though this is author Barbara Jenkins first novel she has won much attention for her short stories. I found this story about a woman running and improving the Trinidadian bar of the title a well-crafted and interesting story. It covers several years in which we see the main character growing and changing along with other characters involved in running the pub.
May 31, 2022
Fun and engaging but with the odd dark undercurrent, for me this was less about the bar and more about the main protagonist Indira, her backstory and how she overcomes abandonment by her lover Solo. Along the way we meet a bunch of interesting characters that seem to illustrate a whole gamut of Trinidadian life as well as its politics. There’s no real plot which won’t suit some, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
June 11, 2022
A charming and heart-felt piece of Trinidadien literature. The story revolves around Indira and her intention to bring the bar of her ex-boyfriend Solomon back to life, Bostic (Solomon‘s best friend), I-Cynthia, Jah-Son and Fritzie. The narrative voices are remarkable and give back the Trinidadien vibe.
November 13, 2018
I've written about De Rightest Place for Caribbean Beat Magazine:
https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-...
https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-...
December 7, 2020
Message from the village maco, mind your thread.
July 7, 2023
I think that the book's title is so fitting because the bar was indeed 'De Rightest Place' for the characters to grow as individuals and together; especially Indira and Jahson.
The piece of bacchanal where Bostic's true biological relationship with Jahson was revealed was something I was NOT expecting but 'seeing' him step up, in his cowardly way, was one of the redeeming moments he had.
Overall, I love reading local and this book was lovely enough to get me out of my reading slump. Kudos to the author!
The piece of bacchanal where Bostic's true biological relationship with Jahson was revealed was something I was NOT expecting but 'seeing' him step up, in his cowardly way, was one of the redeeming moments he had.
Overall, I love reading local and this book was lovely enough to get me out of my reading slump. Kudos to the author!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2025
There is a character with an extremely traumatic past which is discussed in a few chapters. Outside of those dark moments the book isn't very plot heavy and i am getting 'Cheers' vibes. Obviously the setting of both is a bar and it follows the employees and regulars. It has some light drama and entanglements between characters, but also a mundane undertone. I feel this is intentional because even though the characters are mostly 40+ it has a "coming of age" feel. The ending was excellent. I Would read from this author again!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews