Two estranged siblings are reunited when their mother passes away and leaves them a parting message about family secrets and a lost daughter.
Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is set in present-day California and 1950-1960s Caribbean and London. Benny and Byron have grown up understanding that their parents were orphans from the West Indies who met in London then moved to the US. Instead what they discover from their mother’s recording is that they were high school sweethearts in the Caribbean until she was sold off to a gangster, who ended up murdered at the wedding reception, from which she ran away and was presumed dead. This novel is a real rollercoast about friendship, loyalty, and what we choose to say or remember about our past.
If you liked Andrea Levy’s Small Island, then you’ll enjoy this novel too.