Sameness in Sweetness

Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Even if I hadn't been told of this book by a discussion group I was recently invited to attend, I think I would have grabbed it off a shelf (virtual or actual) for the sheer gorgeousness of its jacket. 'Love in Colour', advertised as the re-telling of tales from around the world, is one of the most beautifully packaged books you could hope to find - an eye-catching sizzle of colour that perfectly matches its brilliant title.

To take ancient myths from a wide range of cultures and nations and re-explore them with zing and a modern slant is an excellent idea. For the reader it is fun just to work out which of Babalola's choices are familiar and which are entirely new. Though the real test of course, is whether these tales are able to stand on their own two feet - as separate entities from their ancient origins - and they certainly do.

Babalola has a fresh, energetic writing style designed to stop attention-wandering. Every story is galloping and accessible. "Osun was used to being looked at. In awe, lasciviously, curiously..." So begins the opening line of the super opening story and on we sweep, following the awakening of a woman to her own power. Osun knows she is exceptional, in looks as well as brains, but has yet to learn how to harness these talents, in terms of her romantic as well as her working life.
The world expects things of her that she should not necessarily feel obliged to give. The world also, while looking at her, does not really SEE her... Fixing this is the point of the story, achieved through Osun finding the right - less obvious - man to whom she should entrust her heart. The man in question being the one who 'gets' her properly - SEES her - loving and respecting not just her outer physical beauty, but the core within.

As I made my way through the stories, it became clear that this message was central to most of them, albeit wrapped in a variety of ways. After a while the fact of this - coupled with the punchy, breathless writing style - began to feel somewhat repetitive. Yes, the tales had differing contexts and components -offices, hotels, audition rooms, flats, music, gender - but the obstacles and end-points for the characters began, for me, to feel a little too similar. So often, for example, there was a poisonous side-kick, who tried to misdirect and misinform, and who therefore had to be outwitted or stood up to before the heroine could triumph. There is nothing I like better than a woman finding herself - and her true love - but I have to confess the sameness here did begin to get me down.

That said, as a die-hard romantic, a collection of stories fearlessly focussing on the central theme of 'Love' is a cause for celebration. The most powerful human emotion and force for good - our constant salvation and inspiration - love is a subject that warrants endless reaffirmation and I applaud Babalola for taking on the challenge in such a fresh and vibrant way. There is also an endearing down-to-earth detail in her descriptions of the characters falling for each other - worrying about whether their breath smells and what music they are into, not to mention having to navigate the hazards of all the paranoia inherent in a world dominated by communicating through screens. Babalola is wonderfully on top of these small, telling details of our daily modern lives and how they thread into our relationships.

Maybe I shouldn't have read the collection in one go. Maybe it is like when you eat an entire box of chocolates in one sitting - there is a sameness in the sweetness that ultimately leaves you unsatisfied. For, by the end of the last story, a part of me was wishing for more substance as well as variety. I wanted some glimpses at least, of reality, of insight and perspective on what might happen next... For it is the stuff that happens AFTER the falling-in-love that truly tests us and ultimately matters the most.



View all my reviews