[BWF] The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi S Laskar – 4 Stars

[Hannah]

This was a thought-provoking debut looking at racism in the US and abuse of power within the police. We never find out the actual names of many of the characters, they are just called by their relationship with the narrator, for example Youngest Daughter, her Hero etc. For the large majority of the book this is something that really annoyed me, but as I continued to read, I realised that it was probably done to reflect the experiences of many people of colour in the US. The narrator is an American, born and raised there, to Bengali immigrant parents. Through her eyes, we see the daily incidents of racism and ignorance that she must contend with, including being asked repeatedly where she is really from, not being served at a dry cleaner’s because the person working there didn’t believe she could have afforded the clothes she wanted dry cleaned and being constantly ignored by her white neighbours in a suburban, middle-class neighbourhood. The novel is written in a very fragmented way, with some chapters being just a paragraph, and it does jump back in time, reflecting the narrators’ recollections as she lies on the pavement dying and trying to work out how she got there. This book was published in 2019, but it doesn’t seem to have been widely read or known about. I really hope this changes, as it is the type of book that could increase awareness and lead to some candid conversations about the repeated insults, prejudice and racism someone must endure for being different.

Team: Sassy Sisterhood. Extra read for “A”. Matches tag x 6