Another book from my group for the quarterfinals of judging for the BookTube Prize, How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House is an interesting novel that managed to surprise me. I expected a mystery, with a few unexpected twists and turns and with a tropical backdrop. I was interested in it, and was pleased that it ended up in my round, as it’s been sitting on my bedside table for months.
The Goodreads description of this book is way better than anything I could write, so give that a quick read below if you haven’t already. Done? Excellent. So as it says, this is a layered story that features a few separate but overlapping storylines and characters that are almost universally torn between who they used to be and who they are, where they fit or where they feel they belong, or who they love and who is good for them. All these strands are woven together in a story that continues to offer up new surprises right to the last chapter.
Oddly, though it is the spark that lights all the fires that burn in this book, the burglary gone wrong actually isn’t the main thrust of the story. It’s a vehicle by which we are then introduced to each of our characters, and the catalyst for the lives of each to begin unravelling. These separate but related storylines are the point of the book, and we are slowly introduced to the lives of each character, the inner (and often also outer) conflicts each faces, and the complexities that are involved in the lives of each.
When I think back on reading this book, rather than one cohesive story, what has stuck with me the most are brief intense images – often of violence or pain. These images are spread throughout the book, each character facing at least one of them, and they’re so shocking and extreme that they stand out against the background of the actual story. Through these we learn the motivation of each character, and what haunts them.
This was a much darker book than I expected. I knew there would be some violence and fallout that follows, but the violence in this book and the tragic situations are so much more detailed and graphic than I had expected. I thought it would be a bit more of a fast-paced beach read, and it’s not that. There’s a sense of threat and danger that never abates, and because of that and the nature of the violent scenes, it’s a deeply unsettling and uncomfortable read. When I reached the end, I felt very conflicted about what I was left with. On the one hand there’s skill in the writing, but it’s also a really difficult book to read, and at times the characters didn’t feel like they had enough depth to balance out the violence or the desperate acts of those around them.
I’m still sorting through how I feel about this book, but it definitely did surprise me. I don’t even know who to recommend it to – people who like dark stories that aren’t so much about plot and focus mostly on trauma, maybe? It’s definitely an interesting one. In the end I gave it 4th place in my quarter final rankings, because if nothing else it definitely left me with strong emotions and a lot to think about and sort through.
A debut novel in the tradition of Zadie Smith and Marlon James, from a brilliant Caribbean writer, set in Barbados, about four people each desperate to escape their legacy of violence in a so-called “paradise.” In Baxter Beach, Barbados, moneyed ex-pats clash with the locals who often end up serving them: braiding their hair, minding their children, and selling them drugs. Lala lives on the beach with her husband, Adan, a petty criminal with endless charisma whose thwarted burglary of one of the Baxter Beach mansions sets off a chain of events with terrible consequences. A gunshot no one was meant to witness. A new mother whose baby is found lifeless on the beach. A woman torn between two worlds and incapacitated by grief. And two men driven by desperation and greed who attempt a crime that will risk their freedom — and their lives. – Goodreads
Book Title: How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House
Author: Cherie Jones
Series: No
Edition: Paperback/Audiobook
Published By: HarperCollins Publishers/Audible
Released: January 5, 2021
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Race, Intrigue
Pages: 288
Date Read: July 14-15, 2022
Rating: 6/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.71/5 (11,928 ratings)