Blessed Is the Fruit: A Novel

by Robert Antoni

Presents a novel told in the voices of two West Indian women, one the white mistress of a colonial mansion, the other her Black servant, whose stories form a tapestry of life in the Caribbean

399 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Robert Antoni was born in the United States in 1958, and he carries three passports: US, Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas. His fictional world is the island of Corpus Christi, and to create it he draws upon his two hundred years or family history In Trinidad and Tobago and his upbringing in the Bahamas. His first novel, Divina Trace, was published in 1991 by the Overlook Press in New York1 and by Quartet in London. It received the Commonwealth Writers Prize, an NEA, James Michener and Orowitz fellowships. His second novel, Blessed is the Fruit, was published by Henry Holt in 1997 and in London by Faber & Faber. His story collection, My Grandmother’s Erotic Folktales was published in London by Faber & Faber in 20OO and in New York by Grove/Atlantic in 2001. My Grandmother’s Erotic Folktales appeared in French translation (Du Rocher)-, and it has been translated into Finnish (LIKE) Spanish (Anagrama). His most recent novel, Carnival, was published in New York by Grove/Atlantic (Black Cat) in 2OO5 and it has appeared in French translation (Denoel) and in Finnish (LIKEO). Carnival will appear in Spanish (Anagrama) and it will be published in London by Faber g Faber to coincide a reprinting of Divina
Trace in 2006. Carnival was short—listed for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2006. Antoni’s short fiction has appeared in Conjunctions, The Paris Review, Ploughshares and other periodicals and it was included in the Editors Choice for 1985, The Oxford Book or Caribbean Short Stories in as well as other anthologies. He was awarded the Aga Khan prize for Fiction in 1999 by the Paris Review, where he is a Contributing Editor. He is also a Senior Editor or Conjunctions where he was co-editor, along with Bradford Morrow, of an Anthology or Caribbean writing titled Archipelago (Conjunctions 27). Antoni has given upwards or a hundred readings around the United States and the Caribbean, in addition to the ICA in London and the Harbourfront in Toronto. He holds an MA from Johns Hopkins University, an MFA and a PhD from the Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa. He is a former Associate Professor or creative writing and Caribbean 1iterature at the university or Miami where he taught for nine years until flay 2001. While at the university of Miami he acted as Associate Director of their Caribbean Writers Summer Institute. He presently 1ives in New York and he teaches Fiction Writing at Columbia University.

Reviews

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stunning story of Carribean women who are strong, smart, self-respecting and victims of their culture. Robert Antoni is a well-known, respected contemporary writer, his voice is new to me, but that doesn't matter. I wanted a story written by a Caribbean, set in the Caribbean and peopled by the locals. I am not disappointed.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that I own and started to read, but never finished years ago. As I was reading it, my rating went back and forth between one star and five stars. Perhaps that is why I never finished the book. The language is difficult - half of the story is told in the dialect of an imaginary Caribbean island which is the setting of the novel. Half is told in the language of the landowner class of the island. All of it is a stream of consciousness narrative that brought back nightmares of trying to read Faulkner. The story itself was engaging and some of the descriptions of people and events were amazing, but I struggled so much to finish it, I could not give it more than three stars.

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

18 June 2009 - slow start but the more I read, the more I became intrigued. Liked the plot and it was an experience how all the various pieces of information came together.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be the best book I've ever read, I never wanted it to end!

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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