A lyrical coming-of-age story and a provocative retelling of the colonial history of Jamaica
Originally published in 1984, this crit... read full description
Originally published in 1984, this crit... read full description
reviews
Jan 26, 2011
Mely
rated it: 
Fascinating, not as smooth as No Telephone to Heaven, which I read first, powerful but full of first-novel problems. I'm looking forward to comparing/cross-referencing the fictionalized account of light-skinned Clare's friendship with dark-skinned Zoe with the non-fiction version in Cliff's new memoir, If I Could Write This In Fire, just to see what got said and what gets unsaid, re-said.
Have vague thoughts about omniscient narration and why I don't think it's God's view -- how Cliff, like Toni Morrison More...
Have vague thoughts about omniscient narration and why I don't think it's God's view -- how Cliff, like Toni Morrison More...
Aug 10, 2011
An amazing novel which is an amalgam of Kincaid's
"A Small Place" and Lamming's " In the Castle of My Skin."
A post-colonial novel which gives us the history of Jamaica and questions the validity of history. If you want to know about slavery,politics, history, economy, etc then this is The Book
Cliff goes back in time and endeavors to recreate a history. She succeeds in recreating a visual history and this shows her skill of manipulating the language for her own purpose.I re More...
"A Small Place" and Lamming's " In the Castle of My Skin."
A post-colonial novel which gives us the history of Jamaica and questions the validity of history. If you want to know about slavery,politics, history, economy, etc then this is The Book
Cliff goes back in time and endeavors to recreate a history. She succeeds in recreating a visual history and this shows her skill of manipulating the language for her own purpose.I re More...
Apr 11, 2011
Mahjong_kid
rated it:
While I felt that I came away from this book with a greater knowledge of Jamaica's history, I was persistently annoyed by the limited list of word definitions in the glossary. It seemed that the words most easily understood through context were defined, while the words that defied contextual inference were given no further explanation. Even the title - a word that is mentioned once in the text without elaboration - would pass unrecognized for what it is if not for the blurb on the back cover of
More...
Aug 04, 2008
Allison
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Nov 18, 2009
Carol
rated it:
I loved this book about the results of the hierarchies of colonial Jamaica. It is a prequel to the author's highly acclaimed novel, "No Telephone to Heaven", which I did not like as well..
I really enjoyed how the author interwove Clare's heritage of class/color conscious Jamaica with the Maroon history.. I recently did a presentation about Jamaica's culture and used some info from this excellent novel.
I really enjoyed how the author interwove Clare's heritage of class/color conscious Jamaica with the Maroon history.. I recently did a presentation about Jamaica's culture and used some info from this excellent novel.
Aug 26, 2010
Julia
rated it:
I love Michelle Cliff's writing and her politically charged prose, though I thought this one was a bit of an awkward mix between political history of Jamaica and narrative, and the narrative itself didn't feel particularly polished. But I just love her setting and characters.
Jan 05, 2011
Nicole
rated it:
Pretty weak character development of the main character Claire, but easy to read, and I learned a lot about history in Jamaica, racial tensions, etc.
Aug 18, 2009
C.
rated it:
Quite good. I was supposed to read this for my Latin American lit class but I didn't get to finish it in time. .
Apr 04, 2007
amanda
rated it: 
It's been a while since I've read this, but Clare Savage is one of the most interesting characters I've ever discovered. I read Abeng and No Telephone To Heaven at about the same time, and that's pretty much when I decided I was pretty much wasting my time taking writing classes.
Oct 30, 2007
Amanda
rated it:
Cliff alters the traditional bildungsroman in this novel about an adolescent girl. It is an interesting account of one girl's journey for self in post-colonial Jamaica. Race, ethnicity, gender, and other aspects of identity are deeply questioned throughout the novel.
Oct 04, 2008
Kate
rated it:
Beautifully written novel about a girl growing up in Jamaica, trying to define her identity, coming of age. I read it for school and really enjoyed it.
Jul 17, 2008
Mark
rated it: 
bleh. Had to read it because the author graduated from the same college as me. Just wasn't that into it, sorry Michelle :(
Feb 11, 2012
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