enbybooklove's review
It was a tough read. Pretty depressing. Lots of vile adults. And I didn’t end up caring about the author whose memoir it is.
atsundarsingh's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
*Thanks to Netgalley and Peepal Tree Press for the ARC*
Let me say first that I found writing itself enjoyable, and I always felt I was in the flow while I was actually reading. For me the problem is that upon reflection, this book doesn't hold up to what it promised.
It's not the stylistic choices that are the problem; memoir doesn't need to by linear, and memoir can be anchored to a single relationship (in this case the author to her grandmother, Burrimummy) while being about a number of other things. The issue is that this is a memoir of more description than observation. The author gives tons of detail about her life, and I found the vulnerability rewarding as a reader, and impressive as someone thinking about what the emotional cost of it must have been. But it is a lot of description without much reflection on what it all was. There isn't a narrative throughline or an insight that readers are supposed to follow or interrogate here - or if there is, it wasn't apparent to me. Unfortunately that makes it sound a lot like a catalogue of blended privilege and pain which is, if we're being honest, a reasonable description of a lot of people's lives (even if we aren't all related to royalty). The question in memoir is why this curated story of a life (and our stories are always curated, mediated) should be something that helps readers think/learn/feel/be differently. This book doesn't give us an answer to that.
Missing are the reflections on the things the author reflected on to get to the point where she could put this in publishable form. Her husband's family are descendants of indenture and she acknowledges shame that her grandmother looks down on them, but never examines her own complicity or talks about how she thinks of their social differences. When she engages class, it's to reflect on what others thought of it, not herself. She is a journalist in a period of high violence, especially gender-based violence in Trinidad, but she doesn't say anything about the abusive dynamics in her family except that they are inherited and continued. Colourism and racism deeply affected her life, but she is rarely or never the one commenting on it.
For me, this is a book that had so much potential to vault to the top of my list and then landed far short of expectations.
Let me say first that I found writing itself enjoyable, and I always felt I was in the flow while I was actually reading. For me the problem is that upon reflection, this book doesn't hold up to what it promised.
It's not the stylistic choices that are the problem; memoir doesn't need to by linear, and memoir can be anchored to a single relationship (in this case the author to her grandmother, Burrimummy) while being about a number of other things. The issue is that this is a memoir of more description than observation. The author gives tons of detail about her life, and I found the vulnerability rewarding as a reader, and impressive as someone thinking about what the emotional cost of it must have been. But it is a lot of description without much reflection on what it all was. There isn't a narrative throughline or an insight that readers are supposed to follow or interrogate here - or if there is, it wasn't apparent to me. Unfortunately that makes it sound a lot like a catalogue of blended privilege and pain which is, if we're being honest, a reasonable description of a lot of people's lives (even if we aren't all related to royalty). The question in memoir is why this curated story of a life (and our stories are always curated, mediated) should be something that helps readers think/learn/feel/be differently. This book doesn't give us an answer to that.
Missing are the reflections on the things the author reflected on to get to the point where she could put this in publishable form. Her husband's family are descendants of indenture and she acknowledges shame that her grandmother looks down on them, but never examines her own complicity or talks about how she thinks of their social differences. When she engages class, it's to reflect on what others thought of it, not herself. She is a journalist in a period of high violence, especially gender-based violence in Trinidad, but she doesn't say anything about the abusive dynamics in her family except that they are inherited and continued. Colourism and racism deeply affected her life, but she is rarely or never the one commenting on it.
For me, this is a book that had so much potential to vault to the top of my list and then landed far short of expectations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Classism, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Excrement, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Islamophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
sharla_nicole's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I was fully captivated at the beginning of this book, by the author's honesty and vulnerability about her family life as a child. The story is punctuated by her interactions with Sir Derek Walcott as he provides her with his thoughts on the manuscript of this book. I didn't mind this, as to me it allowed for a comparison of who she was growing up to the person she is now.
As the chapters progressed though, I found it to be repetitive and focused mainly on her maternal lineage of elite society. The paternal grandparents were mentioned only once and there was a lot of name dropping as well. The detailed recall of her ancestors was in stark contrast to the vagueness of her own life, her relationship with her husband and children, and her struggle with depression and anxiety.
The book is well written, clear and concise- but it felt to me writing this was cathartic for her in understanding her relationship with her grandmother, while I am more interested in her story. If there is a sequel that is focused on her personal experiences and development, I would definitely read it.
As the chapters progressed though, I found it to be repetitive and focused mainly on her maternal lineage of elite society. The paternal grandparents were mentioned only once and there was a lot of name dropping as well. The detailed recall of her ancestors was in stark contrast to the vagueness of her own life, her relationship with her husband and children, and her struggle with depression and anxiety.
The book is well written, clear and concise- but it felt to me writing this was cathartic for her in understanding her relationship with her grandmother, while I am more interested in her story. If there is a sequel that is focused on her personal experiences and development, I would definitely read it.
melc's review
4.0
This is a moving book about family, generational pain and colonialism and how the unseen personal effects ripple on into the future. This book is cleverly nuanced and writes about the complexity of love and brokenness beautifully. I found the history of Mathur's family fascinating and the legacy of pain passed through the generations was very moving. A vivid, colourful glimpse into a wealthy Indian family trying to navigate through eras of change, deconstruction and reconstruction with hope of healing in the end.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.
piperkitty's review
5.0
Love The Dark Days by Ira Mathur
Earc : NetGalley
Publisher: PeePal Tree Press Ltd.
Publication Date:1st September 2022
Genre: Literay Fiction, Biographies and Memoirs
It is uncommon for someone from a partly Indian aristocratic background to come this far, no matter where they may have settled; it is difficult to drive the Indian out of their system, as is quite evident in every chapter of this book, which is brilliantly written by its author. The memoirs of a person reveal the kind of past a person has had.
It is abundantly clear that it speaks the unadulterated truth. Despite how difficult it may have been for Ira to overcome the challenges she encountered along the way, her sincerity, perseverance, and hard work persisted despite the time and effort required.
I have previously read the memoirs of some princesses that are based on a pack of lies and coverups, so this is by no means an easy task for a member of the ruling family of an earlier Indian princely state.
Ira, I am very proud of you for being sincere and taking the risk to write down the real-life events of the past and present with pride, dignity, moderation, and logic.
#NetGalley #bookstagram #bookreview #goodreads #literary fiction #biographiesandmemoirs
Earc : NetGalley
Publisher: PeePal Tree Press Ltd.
Publication Date:1st September 2022
Genre: Literay Fiction, Biographies and Memoirs
It is uncommon for someone from a partly Indian aristocratic background to come this far, no matter where they may have settled; it is difficult to drive the Indian out of their system, as is quite evident in every chapter of this book, which is brilliantly written by its author. The memoirs of a person reveal the kind of past a person has had.
It is abundantly clear that it speaks the unadulterated truth. Despite how difficult it may have been for Ira to overcome the challenges she encountered along the way, her sincerity, perseverance, and hard work persisted despite the time and effort required.
I have previously read the memoirs of some princesses that are based on a pack of lies and coverups, so this is by no means an easy task for a member of the ruling family of an earlier Indian princely state.
Ira, I am very proud of you for being sincere and taking the risk to write down the real-life events of the past and present with pride, dignity, moderation, and logic.
#NetGalley #bookstagram #bookreview #goodreads #literary fiction #biographiesandmemoirs
carireadsbooksandtarot's review
Love the Dark Days by Ira Mathur
DNF at 20%
I didn’t realize when I requested this from NetGalley that it is a memoir. This fact made me even more excited to read it. I was intrigued to hear the story of someone growing up in India and the West Indies and going on to become a writer and journalist.
The first 20% can be summed up as “several generations of women being awful to one another.” Lots of uncomfortable conversations that Mathur remembers from childhood from her great-grandmother down to herself that would leave a mark on any child as they are full of vitriol and indifference between mothers and daughters, grandmothers and grandchildren. In the portion I read, the author and her sister have basically been abandoned by their parents and are being raised by her grandmother, Burrimummy. Burrimummy makes no secret that she prefers the younger sister, Angel, to the author.
It isn’t the unpleasantness that made me give up the book. Many memoirs are built on painful childhoods and still manage to be touching and poignant. The writing style here is odd. I often felt like I was reading a big run-on sentence, the flow feels very strange.
I try my best to finish books when I’ve been given copies in exchange for an honest review, but I also try to honor my own time when a book is just not for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and Peepal Tree Press Ltd for the e-galley.
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