A Perfect Pledge

by Rabindranath Maharaj

It is 1961 and Trinidad, at once a lush island paradise and a poverty-stricken hole, is inching toward independence. Narpat, a sugar cane farmer, finds himself caught at the crossroads of a changing world. He is a hard-working man of modest means, and is sickened by the corruption and materialism running rampant on the island. He thinks his neighbors are greedy, shiftless, and enslaved to the rumshop. But Narpat is different. He contrasts the helplessness of the islanders with the resourcefulness of his ancient Aryans, and through a series of stringent moral codes and dietary injunctions, sets about to create order within his family and the village. His rules impose a great deal of deprivation on his wife and four children, and his wife must wage her own battle against her husband's ensuing neglect. Then Narpat decides to single-handedly build a factory to prevent the loss of his livelihood. Narpat's youngest son Jeeves watches his father's obsession with the factory, watches his mother's health decline, and watches as she dies. Unable to prevent his mother's death, he tries to redeem his father by constantly reminding him of the fables the older man told to his young children. And these fables with their undertones of pledges and duty steel the son for a terrible sacrifice.

In A Perfect Pledge, Maharaj combines a Dickensian rendering of the effects of poverty, caste, envy, superstition,corruption and bigotry with vivid, complex characters and gorgeous writing, in a novel that celebrates both the resilience of the human spirit and the heartbreak of failed dreams.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Rabindranath Maharaj was born in the fifties in South Trinidad. He received a B.A., M.A. and Diploma in Education from the University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine. In Trinidad he worked as a teacher and as a columnist for the Trinidad Guardian. In the early 1990s Maharaj moved to Canada and in 1993 he completed a second M.A. at the University of New Brunswick. Since 1994 he has been living in Ajax, Ontario and teaching high school there.Maharaj is now well recognized in Canada for his published fiction and short stories, which tend to deal with everyday situations that challenge and stimulate the lives of men and women from Indo-Caribbean communities in Canada and in Trinidad.
Both the Toronto Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star recognized his literary worth when his book, The Lagahoo’s Apprentice, was published. A previous novel, Homer in Flight, had been nominated for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award.
Two collections of short stories, The Book of Ifs and Buts and The Interloper were nominated for a Regional Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book.
His most recent novel A Perfect Pledge, published in 2005, seems to engage some of the issues and themes that Vidia Naipaul, who was also born in Trinidad, tackled in his earlier novels. Maharaj’s approach, however, is less scathing and dismissive. Although he obviously sees the shortcomings and inadequacies of life in this “now for now” immigrant society of Trinidad, he treats his characters with greater sympathy and with humane understanding.
Rabindranath Maharaj is also one of the founding editors of Lichen a literary magazine that in his own words: “ferrets out new voices, throws the spotlight on recognized ones, and adds to the broth a distinct flavour: a mix of city and country, of tradition and innovation.”

Reviews

[Nalina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book probably struck me as more meaningful than it did to some other readers because of the fact that a side of my family comes from the island (although to my knowledge the author is not a direct relative of mine) and I could easily place family into the story. For me the book was emotional, powerful, painful and enlightening. At tines it was hard to read because it hit so many personal notes and the end brought and ache to my heart. Without the personal connections in sure I would not have felt quite as strongly about the story but nevertheless it is a beautiful read. I definitely recommend it to anyone with personal ties to the region.

[Tonia Latchford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Struggled through this one. It was ok, not a page turner.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this but I really liked how fleshed out the characters were. Narpat reminded me a lot of my own dad (no physical abuse luckily) which made reading it a bit challenging at times.

Here are the passages that spoke to my personal experience:
"But for Narpat's children, the year dragged on. They grew accustomed to his unpredictable moodiness and their mother's retreat into an unyielding silence" (279)

"The children laughed anxiously and wondered how long this mood would last" (286)

"His father shouted out names of diseases. And the children realized that the period of calm had passed" (289)

"Go to the porch and tell me what the Brahmin doing."
Jeeves peeped from the front door. "He in the garden."
"I didn't ask you that. Tell me what he doing there."
"He walking among the flowers."
"Anything else?"
"He picking some of the flowers. And either smelling them or eating them."
"Eating! Eating! That is what he doing. Munching the flowers like a goat." (316)

[Ken Puddicombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maharaj paints a picture of the East Indian community in Trinidad, one not done as minutely and as colourful since V.S. Naipaul. His book is a social commentary on Trinidad, Hindus, Hinduism and East Indians, almost everyone of whom is being buried in a quicksand of their own making. His main character, Narpat, is a man of many contradictions, someone bordering in paranoia and obsessive compulsion. A book that should be digested slowly to take in its multifaceted approach to rural East Indian life in Trinidad.

[Me · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thinking that it would be easy to review this book, boy was I ever so wrong. Although the title slips my mind much to often, the plot and characters are unforgettable. I should say it took longer then needed to finish this book. I can't find the correct words to really explain what this book meant to me. I don't know it was plain amazing.

[Catherine Siemann · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend recommended this warmly, and I did enjoy the view of Trinidadian-Indian culture, but the book felt like something I'd read before -- the domineering, difficult father, the alienated children, etc.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly enjoyed this read. Engaging island lingo. Wonderful characters, and a story line that was plausible yet inventive. The whole thing rather surprised me. Will have to look at some of his other writings.

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish it. Some of the dialogue was funny but not enough to engage me

[Lynette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not finish it.