Afterlove: Tik Tok made me buy it!

Product Information

Persaud’sauspicious debut traces the gut-wrenching lives of a makeshift Trinidadian family over the past two decades. . . . In chapters alternately narrated by Solo, Betty, and Chetan in vibrant Trinidadian dialect,Persaud expertly maps the trio’s emotional development and builds a complicated yet seamless plot full of indelible insights and poignant moments.This affecting family saga shines brightly.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) I’ve always felt off to the side, like I’m watching on. An extra in everyone else’s story. But here I am and here she is and I finally get the lead role and while I don’t know how this story ends, this is how it starts: outside the station, commuters bustling past in their effort to catch the 17:58, her hand in mine” Rosser, Michael (5 October 2020). "Rome Film Fest unveils 2020 line-up; lifetime award for Steve McQueen". Screen Daily . Retrieved 6 December 2021. Nothing more astutely describes Betty Ramdin. She's surrounded by the tropical breezes, the sumptuous foods and delicacies, and the rhythmic music of Trinidad. But Betty is also enveloped in the throws of an abusive marriage with her husband, Sunil. Betty tries to placate Sunil when he's filled with the after affects of too much rum and too much testosterone. What she won't tolerate is anything that comes too near to her four year old son, Solo. He is her world. The book is narrated by the three main protagonists : Betty , her son Solo and Mr. Chetan, the live-in tenant. Each character has a personal story.

The only negative thing I would say about this novel is that I would have liked to see more of Ash’s grief for her family and her best friend. She was very close with her parents and her sister, and we don't see a lot of grief displayed from Ash with the fact that she can never see them again. Obviously, as it’s a love story, the focus was on her relationship with Poppy, but it would have been nice to see more of a grieving process. An engrossing and unsparing exploration of lovein various forms, love in all its passion, its beauty, and its brutality.The fully realized characters will take up permanent residence in readers’ heads and hearts. Persaud’stalent and couragewill undoubtedly lead us into many worlds in years to come.” —Neil Bissoondath, author of Digging Up the Mountains Overall, I think two stars for a personal vibe on the book is fair. It’s just not for me. It’s a tad repetitive. If you like to switch your brain off and have a nice, wholesome romance (which is nice to see for a wlw teen book!) yeah go for it, you’ll probably enjoy it. I definitely would appreciate this book more if I read it after something quite heavy. But, I am cynical and need my girl gang grim reapers with a bit of spice and grit instead of the industry plant disney original ‘punk’ aesthetic than they were sporting in here. The novel switches between three narrative voices and opens with Betty recalling the last days of her marriage to Sunil, initially charming but latterly an abusive drunk. Solo is their (then) young son. I did not like how the book was narrated and I struggled to connect with the characters. The storyline was very ordinary but it was the language that left me cold, sentences like “…he can do what the ass he wants” combined with the other points I raised just left me regretting this choice.

Success!

i also wish some of the characters we meet towards the middle/end of the book like dev and deborah were expanded on more!!! there was obviously supposed to be mystery surrounding them but i wanted to know more!! i think this is a pacing issue and i was honestly surprised by how long the lead up to ash’s death was?? i think this book could’ve benefited in chapters alternating between before her death and after and that may have helped expand the relationships and characters?? Betty and Chetan both individually consider whether it could become more, but there's a good reason why it can't/won't. One night, with the help of a bottle of rum, they explore the question once and for all...and, no. It wouldn’t be the first time I took a six for a nine. (Betty) It is also an island that has spawned Nobel Laureate in literature, V.S. Naipaul and other notable writers such as C.L.R James. Later, Mary witnesses an argument between Genevieve and Solomon. Solomon accuses his mother of cheating on Ahmed with several other men and refuses to move away with her as he wants to live with Ahmed instead. When Mary confronts Genevieve about their argument, Genevieve says she was aware that Ahmed had another wife throughout the time she knew him, but continued to see Ahmed anyway. She also learns that Ahmed lied about her as he said Mary was Pakistani and that they never had a child (Ahmed and Mary had a son many years ago who died at four months old). Later, Mary poses as Ahmed and texts Solomon from his phone, where Solomon asks if he can move in with him. There seems to be a troubling trend in Caribbean literature being applauded only for employing certain stereotypes, when there is diversity in the Caribbean, based on speech and how people express themselves. Reading Persaud's account of Trinidadian society left me thinking that there is only one way to be, one way to speak and one way to live in that island. What a suffocating thought.

A lot of themes are explored in Love After Love with love being the grounding theme. Persaud showcase the different forms of love and the different ways we love or show love. I have to admit, I enjoyed hearing from a 40 year old women about what it is like dating at that age in Trinidad and Tobago- it was so well done and I find we don’t read a lot about “older” Caribbean women dating and finding love. There is the theme of friendship and what that "should" look like, and I felt Persaud did just a spectacular job of taking us into a real genuine friendship between Betty and Mr. Chetan- I think that was so well explored and I wanted more of it. I was most engaged with the story of Mr Chetan, a gay man struggling with the reality of keeping his sexuality a secret and the danger of being his true self openly. I liked the character of Betty too whose voice in the narrative brought some funny moments and her journey with discovering her spiritual side was enjoyable. However I struggled to connect with the character of Solo and his storyline didn't interest me much. I also didn't think that depiction of his mental health issues were handled very well. It's no big surprise given the title that love is a theme that is explored within this novel. And while that is a common topic in fiction, the author managed to create something that sets it apart from so many other books. With the setting of Trinidad and island dialect used throughout the story along with complex relationships between characters, I finished the book feeling like I had a unique reading experience. And that is always a good thing in my opinion.

The book's message about loving, being loved, and living a full life is one of the purest and most well-written things i’ve ever read. When I started reading this book I wasn’t completely sure I was going to like it because the story is about two sixteen year-olds experiencing their first love, which for me is an experience long in the past. However, I was completely wrong! This book by Tanya Byrne is written with absolute honesty and I saw myself immediately immersed in this story, devouring the book in barely a week, something that hadn’t happened in a long time. I can’t help but think that if I had read this book as a teenager, when my problems seemed never-ending, perhaps my life would have been different. The representation of a healthy relationship between two teenage girls is something that I missed, but I’m glad that many other teenagers will now be able to read this story and feel heard. They will be able to hold onto this book when things are difficult for them. This is the main reason I have felt this book so close to my heart and why I would recommend it to everyone who has experienced growing up as a queer teenager. Betty Ramdin is married to the abusive Sunil with all the terrors that go with it, she tries her best to handle the dreadful circumstances and endeavouring to shield the worst aspects of it from her young son, Solo, who means everything to her as she tries to protect him from his father. When Sunil dies in an accident, Betty is left a widow, bringing in her work colleague, the kind and compassionate Mr Chetan as their lodger. However, the pernicious and malign influence of Sunil refuses to die with him, with repercussions that are set to continue through the years. Betty, Mr Chetan and Solo go on to gel into a unconventional and supportive family, with Mr Chetan taking on the father role for Solo, providing a significantly more positive role model than his actual father. However, after secrets get spilled, a despairing Solo leaves Trinidad, running to his Uncle Hari and the loneliness and struggles of New York City. But, the inevitable must come. Ash must die and our minds must fill with questions about what it means for her and Poppy, how Ash’s family coped, what everyone is doing now. Only some of those questions get answered, which is a little disappointing given how much I grew to love the other side characters. Nevertheless, the second section of Afterlove brings in the fantasy element of reapers, who collect souls of the recently deceased and bring them to Charon’s boat to continue their journey.

My only criticism is that I’d have liked to see more of Ash’s grief for her family and best friend after her death. There is an initial moment of grief but it’s almost forgotten and considering how much time we spent with Ash’s family in the first part of the book, it felt a bit abrupt for them to barely cross Ash’s mind again.

Inspiration #2

Later, Genevieve, Solomon, and Mary happen to visit Ahmed's grave at the same time (and, in turn, Ahmed's and Mary's son's grave, who's buried next to his father). The three of them then return to Mary's house. Genevieve tells Mary that she was always jealous that Ahmed wouldn't ever leave Mary for her, but was fine with sharing as she believed she had the better half of Ahmed. Shortly after Genevieve leaves the room, Mary hears one of the cassette tapes that Ahmed made for her and walks downstairs to see Genevieve and Solomon listening to it. Solomon initially gives the tape to Mary, but she allows him to keep it instead. The two tearfully embrace. In the final scene, the three of them visit the White Cliffs of Dover and look out at the English Channel. As an ethnography, After Love gives a richly evidenced account of how Latin America’s neoliberalization changes the very possibilities for economic and intimate relationships. Focusing on queer identities, Stout’s work is a welcome addition to the scholarship on neoliberalism in the region as it is able to illustrate the complex interplay through which neoliberal subjects constitute themselves through the resistance, re-imagining and embracing new forms of economic transfers through ‘love’ relationships.” — M. Gabriela Torres, European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies The supernatural side of things with the reapers was very clever, something I haven’t read before, and without going into too much detail as it would spoil it, there a certain aspects of being a reaper that create an edge of danger and uncertainty for Ash. The ending was very well established, and almost the perfect ending in my eyes.