Tuesday March 08, 2011

Book Review

Title: PEARL – A Caribbean Story

Author – Melanie R Springer

For a first novel, Melanie Springer’s PEARL   – A Caribbean Story, excites the imagination. The text opens with the three words, “Pearl was dead”. Is it a Whodunit?

It evokes the same sense of urgency and immediacy as any good detective tale. It also means that one can hardly put the book down until one discovers the cause of this dramatic opening statement. The intensity of interest these three little words produce sets the stage for a tumult of emotions.

How does the author construct this novel and does it really fit the genre of “detective” novels? Actually, it is really a novel whose main theme is childhood, and its sometimes exasperating sibling rivalries. The very heart of this rivalry pits big sister Pearl against little brother Omar. The plot revolves around the tensions, challenges and ultimate resolution of the conflict. The denouement defies all our expectations.

Here is the beauty of the tale! To produce this climax, the author applies her skills at characterization with amazing results. The main character, the hapless single mother of the two youngsters, Loretta is a well delineated picture of the hardworking, enterprising, Caribbean mother. Her struggles are painted with a keen eye for details. An astonishing gift for character portrayal is seen as the insights into Omar’s and his friends’ minds and activities are revealed.

The author describes the village, its shop, rum shop and surroundings with the keen eye of the artist. The cinematic approach is evident in some of the scenes of the East Coast and the Crop Over activities, one feels that some cuts might have to be made to lessen the tension for the reader, particularly as one breathlessly approaches  the climax of the tale. This flaw is easily forgivable as the cuts will be made, hopefully, when this text becomes a Caribbean movie on Childhood.

One looks forward to this.

Viola Davis  Ph.D.