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absolutive's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
This is a really horrifying book, like a subtle ghost story. A young woman returns to the family home in London after the death of her father. She deliberately dawdles so as to miss the funeral and arrives after her mother has left for a vacation. She and her sister spend time together in the house, which is itself almost a character that haunts them. Slowly we learn about their trauma, the hidden, unspoken, unbelieved costs that these women paid for their parents' quiet, successful middle-class English life. It's as if their parents made some bargain to leave their Caribbean Isle, gain the success they want, and sacrifice their children. We see it and the struggle for Black first generation British lives in England, all through the women's eyes and the house after their parents are gone, circling around, rising in the clouds and winds of ghost-like memories.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Suicide attempt