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Dog-Heart
Told in two voices, educated Jamaican English and the nation-language of the people, this dramatic novel tells the story of a well-meaning, middle-class woman and a young boy from the ghetto whom she desperately wants to help. Alternating between the perspectives of the woman and the boy, the story engages with issues of race and class, examines the complexities of relationships between people of very different backgrounds, and explores the difficulties faced by individuals seeking to bring about social change through their own actions. The dramatic climax and tragic choices made grow from the gulf of incomprehension between middle-class and poor Jamaicans and provide penetrating insights into the roots of violence in impoverished communities.
- GenresFiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 30, 2010
Excellent! As a Jamaican, and even more a Kingstonian, I could identify with the issues addressed in this book. The issues of race and class that are still very much alive in the Jamaican society. Diana McCaulay's style is effortless - she captures the reader's attention from start to finish. The book's portrayal of the two main characters Sahara and Dexter span age, race, sex, and class. The perspectives of a uptown mulatto woman, and a poor black male child were so vivid. Usually authors take one perspective, but McCaulay gave life to two. Sadly as a middle class Jamaican, I could see a lot of myself in Sahara's character. Thoughts one would never dare to vocalize. Yet McCaulay provided me with the opportunity to understand the world of our less fortunate. Albeit Dexter and Sahara are fictional they do reflect the stark realities of present day Jamaica. The shade of your skin, class, education and contacts are still tools for social advancement. The book was heartbreaking not just pertaining to the tragedies that occur, but in highlighting the desperation and hopelessness that many impoverished people have to endure. The ending is by no means a fairytale, but it does offer some hope.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2019
Diana McCaulay delivers with Dog-Heart! I finished this book awhile now and I cannot shake that feeling of just being mad at all the injustice in the world... I guess that is a sign of a good book right?
Dog-Heart is told from two points of view that of Sahara and Dexter. Sahara is a single Mom middle class mother living and working in Jamaica. Compared to a lot Sahara's got a lot going for her, a house in Mona, a car, a steady job and a son who is about to leave for college. One night while leaving the Cinema Sahara meets Dexter who is outside begging for money for school. Sahara is described as well-intentioned and this story shows exactly how the road to hell to paved with good intentions....
Dexter is from the ghetto, he is one of three children. As the eldest, in order to help his struggling mother he takes to the street begging, it is there that he meets Sahara who turns out to be the "savior" he was/wasn't hoping to find. Sahara wanting to help takes food on a weekly basis to Dexter's family, get Dexter and his siblings enrolled into a more prestigious school and tries to make life as comfortable for them as she can. Things do not turn out how Sahara would like....
A lot is explored in this book and it done in the most maddening way. This is not you fairytale, happy ending book. McCaulay does not paint a bright blooming picture, but one that is realistic and will end up breaking your heart.
I highly recommend adding this book to your TBR list. What I particularly remembered enjoying was how convincing McCaulay was when she wrote from Dexter's POV.
A must read.
Dog-Heart is told from two points of view that of Sahara and Dexter. Sahara is a single Mom middle class mother living and working in Jamaica. Compared to a lot Sahara's got a lot going for her, a house in Mona, a car, a steady job and a son who is about to leave for college. One night while leaving the Cinema Sahara meets Dexter who is outside begging for money for school. Sahara is described as well-intentioned and this story shows exactly how the road to hell to paved with good intentions....
Dexter is from the ghetto, he is one of three children. As the eldest, in order to help his struggling mother he takes to the street begging, it is there that he meets Sahara who turns out to be the "savior" he was/wasn't hoping to find. Sahara wanting to help takes food on a weekly basis to Dexter's family, get Dexter and his siblings enrolled into a more prestigious school and tries to make life as comfortable for them as she can. Things do not turn out how Sahara would like....
A lot is explored in this book and it done in the most maddening way. This is not you fairytale, happy ending book. McCaulay does not paint a bright blooming picture, but one that is realistic and will end up breaking your heart.
I highly recommend adding this book to your TBR list. What I particularly remembered enjoying was how convincing McCaulay was when she wrote from Dexter's POV.
A must read.
June 17, 2025
A must read
McCaulay takes you into the hearts and minds of the two main characters, Dex and Sahara, and gives an unsparing glimpse of the reality of Jamaica.
McCaulay takes you into the hearts and minds of the two main characters, Dex and Sahara, and gives an unsparing glimpse of the reality of Jamaica.
June 30, 2020
My chest hurts
This book broke my heart ugh, I wish there was more to it. Just a tad more I would liked to have know where he ended up.
But in all honesty I hated Sahara. And before anyone tells me anything about her 'attempts' to help the family, I'll remind you you that they were FAILED ATTEMPTS. She half-assed everything she did when it came to this family, they were like some kind of game that she could occasionally play and put back when she got bored. She only had an interest in the children, but she didn't put in any effort to take them out of the ghetto, part of the reason being that she didn't like the mother. Which who the f*ck are you to judge someone else's life when yours is in complete shambles, and even if everything was peachy you still wouldn't have any room to speak. Her lack of empathy or understanding for the mother, confused me, her inability to understand why Dexter found it difficult to fit in school, WHEN IT JUST SITS THERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER FACE!!!. She proved , all the people who were doubting her, right by failing her little passion project, Now we have a wanted runaway, a dead child and a mute. F*CKING GREAT JOB SAHARA.
This book was amazing, all these feelings I was feeling the frustration, annoyance, dread, heart break. I really hate what ended up happening in the end.
How Sahara gets to go back to her own life as if nothing happened and we have another broken family no one gives a sh*t about because they're dark skins living in the ghetto.
I literally loved this book, couldn't put it down until I finished. If you love hardcore,angst where your heart gets shattered into a million pieces this is the book for you. 😠😣😣
This book broke my heart ugh, I wish there was more to it. Just a tad more I would liked to have know where he ended up.
But in all honesty I hated Sahara. And before anyone tells me anything about her 'attempts' to help the family, I'll remind you you that they were FAILED ATTEMPTS. She half-assed everything she did when it came to this family, they were like some kind of game that she could occasionally play and put back when she got bored. She only had an interest in the children, but she didn't put in any effort to take them out of the ghetto, part of the reason being that she didn't like the mother. Which who the f*ck are you to judge someone else's life when yours is in complete shambles, and even if everything was peachy you still wouldn't have any room to speak. Her lack of empathy or understanding for the mother, confused me, her inability to understand why Dexter found it difficult to fit in school, WHEN IT JUST SITS THERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER FACE!!!. She proved , all the people who were doubting her, right by failing her little passion project, Now we have a wanted runaway, a dead child and a mute. F*CKING GREAT JOB SAHARA.
This book was amazing, all these feelings I was feeling the frustration, annoyance, dread, heart break. I really hate what ended up happening in the end.
How Sahara gets to go back to her own life as if nothing happened and we have another broken family no one gives a sh*t about because they're dark skins living in the ghetto.
I literally loved this book, couldn't put it down until I finished. If you love hardcore,angst where your heart gets shattered into a million pieces this is the book for you. 😠😣😣
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2012
The companion read to Ellis's For Nothing At All...a powerful novel about life on the street and in the St. Andrew living room, another capture of the tragedy attendant on postcolonial democracy. In a completely bizarre intertwining of art and reality one of the central characters is inspired by a child the author knew; after the book was published it was discovered that the boy had grown up into an alleged don called Dogpaw...now in prison in Kingston.
December 17, 2016
Engaging & moving. Yet, I wanted to learn more about certain characters.
MONTAGUE KOBBÉ, writer of THE NIGHT RAMBLER, ON THE WAY BACK and TALES OF BED SHEETS AND DEPARTURE LOUNGES, wrote a review on Dog-Heart for his blog (and the Herald). I wish to share this with you at the link below. Have a read and follow him for others.
Review Here: http://montaguekobbe.com/index.php/20...
MONTAGUE KOBBÉ, writer of THE NIGHT RAMBLER, ON THE WAY BACK and TALES OF BED SHEETS AND DEPARTURE LOUNGES, wrote a review on Dog-Heart for his blog (and the Herald). I wish to share this with you at the link below. Have a read and follow him for others.
Review Here: http://montaguekobbe.com/index.php/20...
May 26, 2012
A very sad but true to life story depicting the lives of many young boys/men in Jamaica. Many of us Jamaicans know "Dexter" as we see him every day. A well written book by Ms. Macaulay.....an intense story that you will hate to pause till you get to the end.
August 7, 2012
This an outstanding book that discuss class, color, education and the future of an underprivileged boy in Jamaica. It was a great read with elements of sorrow, dread, hope, fear and disaster. It made me sad for he future of ghetto children and great full that I was born into my own family.
June 21, 2020
Rollercoaster of emotions
This book had me laughing, crying and then pissed off. The issues of class, race and colorism was seen throughout the book. I felt like the characters couldn't catch a break even when it seemed like things were going well. Why is it in black communities it is your own people who try to keep you down whenever you make improvements. It is like you were born poor and you should stay that way. The children started to improve their speech and people felt like they were looking down on them. It was just obstacle after obstacle which is the reality of the impoverished. I wanted the children to win even when it seemed hopeless. This book broke my heart sigh but it was a great, quick read as I could not put it down. Read it and fall in love with Diana McCaulay's words and I will definitely be reading more from this author.
This book had me laughing, crying and then pissed off. The issues of class, race and colorism was seen throughout the book. I felt like the characters couldn't catch a break even when it seemed like things were going well. Why is it in black communities it is your own people who try to keep you down whenever you make improvements. It is like you were born poor and you should stay that way. The children started to improve their speech and people felt like they were looking down on them. It was just obstacle after obstacle which is the reality of the impoverished. I wanted the children to win even when it seemed hopeless. This book broke my heart sigh but it was a great, quick read as I could not put it down. Read it and fall in love with Diana McCaulay's words and I will definitely be reading more from this author.
March 4, 2024
A truly heart-wrenching story, one which took me on an emotional roller-coaster of a journey. From the opening chapter the vividly drawn characters seemed to leap from the page, demanding that I see the different worlds they inhabited, as well as recognise the different dilemmas and challenges they faced. As I read I alternated between feelings of sadness, despair, fleeting moments of hope and impotent rage and felt emotionally wrung out by the time I turned the final page. Brilliant writing and an unforgettable story.
August 8, 2023
A book club read. Uncomfortable reading, bleak and depressing.
November 7, 2025
3.5 ☆
💔
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June 26, 2019
Truth in story form
This book carries the reader through the realities of Kingston where you experience not just the perspective but emotions of the characters from both sides of the fence. A solid read
This book carries the reader through the realities of Kingston where you experience not just the perspective but emotions of the characters from both sides of the fence. A solid read
February 1, 2011
Slow start, but gripping plot.
February 20, 2011
Well written, but too intense for me to keep reading.
Want to read
September 25, 2011I am 1/2 way through this book and I just can't read another sentence. I just don't care. Maybe I will come back to it, probably not. Too many other good books to read.
December 1, 2011
Poignant and holding back nothing, Diana touched my heart with this all too true tale of Jamaican realities.
February 10, 2013
i know ive read a good book when i think about it for days afterwards and this one haunted me for quite some time
August 22, 2013
Just finished reading this story and was very disappointed that it ended. Incredibly moving story of unhappiness and its different forms. A must read for everyone!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews