A review by bahareads
At the Bottom of the River by Madeleine Reinholdsson, Jamaica Kincaid
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
a collection of short stories that made me ponder. Jamaica Kincaid starts off with a banger. Girl had me in a grip. It was my favourite story out of the entire collection. Kincaid's writing style is straightforward but also so vague at times. I had to reread some of the stories a few times to grasp what was going on and what was being said. I enjoyed the mother-daughter theme. I love when authors explore complex and complicated family dynamics. What makes it even more enjoyable is when an author pulls from their own story as Kincaid has done. There is a lyrical quality to her writing and an "island" like undertone to it all.
"Placing her arms around me, she drew my head closer and closer to her bosom, until finally I suffocated. I lay on her bosom, breathless, for a time uncountable, until one day, for a reason she has kept to her self, she shook me out and stood me under a tree and I started to breathe again."
"Placing her arms around me, she drew my head closer and closer to her bosom, until finally I suffocated. I lay on her bosom, breathless, for a time uncountable, until one day, for a reason she has kept to her self, she shook me out and stood me under a tree and I started to breathe again."