Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson - Review

I saw this book a few weeks ago but didn't buy it, but then saw it for very cheap on Kindle so bought it. I was away in Northern Ireland and usually take my Kindle when I'm on holiday so I started this. It's much easier to just read on my tablet when I'm on holiday, especially when flying. I say Kindle and I say tablet and mean the same thing because although it is a tablet, I don't use any of the other apps on it except the Kindle one. I sometimes do use the document reader if I'm cross stitching, but otherwise it functions just as a Kindle!

So, I liked the blurb of this book but I have to say it didn't entirely land with me. I feel like I've read this story a hundred times before and I'm just sort of bored of it. There were some original parts, like Covey's history with swimming, but generally I feel like I've read this before. Some chapters are really short and the point of view changes quickly, which I found annoying at times. Plus the style of writing jarred sometimes. There's parts that feel like a newspaper article - things are reported as having happened to to be going to happen, instead of the reader getting to see those things happen in real time. I understand that this can be a space saving device, but if you're so desperate for space in your novel then you've got too much stuff going on in it, in my opinion. 

So the story concerns Bryon and Benny's mother, Eleanor Bennett. Before the beginning of the novel, she has died. Benny has been estranged from the family for eight years, because she is bisexual, but that's never put into actual words so that annoyed me as well. Byron has been caring for his mother since the death of their father five years before. Eleanor has left a long recording for Byron and Benny with her lawyer and companion, Charles Mitch. She has also left one of her famous black cakes in the freezer and tells them to eat it 'when the time is right'. She says they'll know when the time is right.

We then go back to her early years, and her birth name, Coventina Lyncook. Her mother was from the Caribbean and her dad was Chinese, and Covey grew up 'on the island' which is assumed to be Jamaica. Apparently there were quite a few Chinese immigrants in Jamaica, which I didn't know and which I did find interesting. Lin, Covey's dad, is a gambler. Her mother leaves when Covey is small and never comes back or sends for her. Covey's mother figure is the housemaid, Pearl, with whom her mother used to make her famous black cakes as wedding cakes. Covey is a brilliant open water swimmer. She trains with her friend, Bunny, and then she meets a boy, Gibbs, and falls in love. The two plan to move to England to start a life together there, but unfortunately Lin has other plans for her. I won't say anymore of this story because it was interesting to see it unfold. 

Eleanor tells her children that they have a sister, and the story of how that happened comes out too. They make contact with her; she is a food historian and I did like the stuff she said here about food and culture and history and stuff. The book sort of lost me in the last third because the point of view jumps around all over the place, and there are way too many characters who all wanted to stick their oar in. I feel this end bit could have been massively streamlined and yes it may have left some questions unanswered for the reader, but I actually don't mind that. 

All in all, I was just a bit bored by the book and am giving it three out of five. 

Mr Loverman by Bernadine Everisto - Review

Because I loved Girl, Woman, Other so much, I had been thinking that I really should read something else by Bernadine Evaristo. Then I watched her on Imagine with Tom Stoppard which was really good, I liked the look at her life and work. I was intrigued by the premise of Mr Loverman, so I requested ut at my library. It came in quickly and I picked it up after my holiday. 

The main character and narrator is Barrington Walker, aged seventy-four, who was born in Antigua but who came to England in around 1960 with his wife Carmelita, known as Carmel. They had two daughters - Donna, in around 1960, and Maxine, in around 1970. Barry drinks a lot and after yet another altercation with his wife, he decides that he will finally leave her. Because, you see, Barry has been in a relationship with his friend Morris since they were fourteen. We see Barry try to cope with how to tell Carmel and also the history of their lives together. We see the lives of their daughters, the lives of Carmel's church friends, and the life of Morris, Barry's lover. 

There are also little points of view from Carmel, spaced at roughly every ten years. She suffered with post natal depression after Maxine was born, and Barry ended up looking after Maxine a lot, which is why she remains his favourite child. Carmel then got a job in housing for the local authority, and worked her way up. She assumes that Barry is having affairs with women and even, at one point, goes to a house Barry owns to try to catch him with a woman but finds only him and Morris there instead. Still, she has never put two and two together. 

Barry knows she won't take the news that he is leaving her and wants a divorce lying down. Barry is a rich man - he bought properties in the sixties and has prospered, meaning he's been able to support both his children and send his grandson Daniel to private school. He doesn't want to end up in Morris' studio attic flat (Morris won't take any money from Barry).

We learn that in 1989 Morris' wife Odette caught the two of them together and subsequently left Morris. She never told Carmel, but she did go back to Antigua where she opened up a spa hotel. Morris asked Barry to leave Carmel at this point, but he didn't feel he could. 

Before Barry can ask for the divorce, Carmel has to go to Antigua as her father - a violent man who terrorised her mother - is dying. Soon Donna joins her and Barry is left in charge of sixteen year old Daniel. Everything starts to fall apart. 

I loved the book - I liked Barry even though he's a reprehensible old drunk, and I wanted him to be happy. I liked the story of his marriage to Carmel and how they had both struggled. Both daughters were spoilt brats and I loved how Barry saw that and blamed himself. I liked his steady, quiet relationship with Morris. I liked the story of first generation immigrants from the Caribbean. I did feel like we didn't see enough of Morris' personality as I'd have liked, but I wonder if that was a deliberate choice - because he and Barry couldn't live together, he did have Morris on a little bit of a pedestal and had to keep him at a bit of a remove. I loved the look at older queer communities and how they identified... I don't want to give anything else away though!

I'm giving this five out of five and will definitely read something else by Bernadine in the future. I think she weaves together brilliant narratives, I think she'd a splendid writer. 

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - Review

This is a brilliant book and I'd like you all to go and read it immediately! I first heard of it ages ago and bought it when it was cheap on Kindle, but hadn't got around to reading it. Then my friend Ingrid said they were going to have it for their next book club meeting, so I knew I needed to get around to reading it! I started it just before we went on holiday at the beginning of October and finished it there. I loved the book, it's quite complex but still easy to read.

At the beginning of the book the town of Mallard is abuzz because Desiree Vignes is back in town. Several years ago she and her twin sister Stella left town without saying goodbye, leaving behind their mother. No one really expected either of them to return, but Desiree has - with her child, Jude, in tow. She quickly enrolls Jude in school and gets a job in the diner, but doesn't know where Stella is. 

Mallard is a tiny town in Louisiana, and isn't on any maps. It was founded by a Black person, and all its inhabitants are Black, but over time they have become paler and indeed, Stella can later be mistaken for a white woman, although we don't find that out until later. But there is an emphasis on the light skinned people who live in the town, and when Desiree arrives with Jude everyone is incensed because Jude is dark skinned. The family have to cope with prejudice against her in the time she lives in Mallard. 

We next go back in time to when Desiree and Stella were teenagers. Stella wants to stay in school but their mother insists she leaves and gets a job. Desiree is desperate to leave their small town but also has to get a job. Then Stella says she'll go with Desiree, so one night they leave and go to New Orleans. We follow Desiree as she gets a job and falls in love with Jude's father. He beats her and treats her badly which is why she then escapes back to Mallard and her mother. We learn that Stella left one night and Desiree has no idea where she is. She's never been in touch with her mother either. 

Jude grows up and heads to LA for college. She meets Reese, a trans man who has escaped his own small town in Texas I think. This is the late 70s so transitioning is in no way easy, but Reese was one of my favourite characters throughout the whole book. I loved him and Jude. They make friends with drag queens around the area and find a found family. I loved their relationship too. 

Jude starts waitressing in LA and at the very middle of the book, she's at a swanky party when Stella walks in. Jude smashes a bottle of wine and is fired... and then we go over to Stella's story. She found she could pass as a white woman and that's what she's done all her life. She is married and has a daughter, Kennedy. She has spent her whole life terrified of being 'found out' and trying to bury her past. I liked her story too, even though she's not exactly the hero in her story. 

I loved the book and thought it was really deftly woven together and kept my interest. I'm giving this five out of five and am looking forward to seeing what everyone else thought of it!