A review by 2treads
Now Lila Knows by Elizabeth Nunez
challenging
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
"Catharsis makes you feel better; you have taken a load off your shoulders, but does catharsis make the world better? It doesn't matter what people feel; it matters what they do." —Kenton
Nunez writes simply, yet affectingly, a story of a Caribbean woman coming to a world where she is on the periphery of the deeply unsettling racial prejudices and outlooks in a mostly white college town.
Lila is light-skinned and is aware of the privilege that is afforded her and others who look like her in the Caribbean. What she is not prepared for or knowledgeable enough on, is the institutionalised racial perceptions of America.
So when she is confronted by and witnesses the murder of a college professor, she begins to question not only her legacy, but the legacy of her family, her island and her region. Interacting with the history and aftermath of this murder, Lila comes face to face with her reality of being under- informed about the politics of America and how that threads through every aspect of their society.
I love how Nunez incorporates the sense of staying on the outskirts of racial issues if one is from another diapsoric cohort, even when one belongs to the targeted minority race. The intellectual and personal interactions between Lila and her Black colleagues leads to tension, misunderstandings, and harsh exchanges. But it also allows for a bridge to be built where empathy and willingness to fight for our brothers no matter the country is the ultimate outcome.
Nunez writes simply, yet affectingly, a story of a Caribbean woman coming to a world where she is on the periphery of the deeply unsettling racial prejudices and outlooks in a mostly white college town.
Lila is light-skinned and is aware of the privilege that is afforded her and others who look like her in the Caribbean. What she is not prepared for or knowledgeable enough on, is the institutionalised racial perceptions of America.
So when she is confronted by and witnesses the murder of a college professor, she begins to question not only her legacy, but the legacy of her family, her island and her region. Interacting with the history and aftermath of this murder, Lila comes face to face with her reality of being under- informed about the politics of America and how that threads through every aspect of their society.
I love how Nunez incorporates the sense of staying on the outskirts of racial issues if one is from another diapsoric cohort, even when one belongs to the targeted minority race. The intellectual and personal interactions between Lila and her Black colleagues leads to tension, misunderstandings, and harsh exchanges. But it also allows for a bridge to be built where empathy and willingness to fight for our brothers no matter the country is the ultimate outcome.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Racism, Pregnancy, and Murder