Lisa Allen-Agostini

Shortlisted for the Womens' Prize 2022

My backlog of unreviewed books has crept up again, which is a shame because I very much enjoyed this vibrant story of a Trinidadian woman escaping from domestic abuse.

The main protagonist Alethea, who narrates much of the story in creole dialect, has worked her way up to being the manager of a clothes shop in Port of Spain. Her partner Leo is a semi-retired singer who drinks too much, is jealous of her success and whose violence is triggered by very show more little.

The story switches between this present narrative and memories from Alethea's childhood, shared with a younger cousin Colin who becomes an adopted brother, who she meets again after many years as a church minister.

She also meets an old friend who returns having spent much of her life bored by her marriage in America, who involves her in a plan to open a new luxury boutique. Both see her predicament and attempt to help her, and in the end, after a bloody denouement, Alethea is left to make her own decisions about the future.

What lifts the book is the lively narration, which really brings the setting to life, but never gets in the way of the story. A book that thoroughly deserves its place on the women's prize list. show less

At its core, this book is filled with sexual abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, and inherited trauma; however, once you begin reading, it is difficult to resist becoming fully immersed in the characters, especially the protagonist. A quick, but due to varying types/levels of abuse aimed specifically at women, at times, a disturbing read that gives voice to everyone who, as the author eloquently states, knows that lies show truth.

Big trigger warnings for domestic violence, rape, child abuse, an *explicit* child sexual abuse scene, incest. All of which are intense and there are constant scenes throughout the book.

I think it's hard to put my thoughts together about this. It's a cavalcade of trauma and abuse and then it just ends so... neatly? Like, not that the scars are resolved obviously. But it feels weird - although even saying that feels wrong, as if I'm suggesting that actually the trauma should have carried on, show more which is also not what I meant.

I think part of it is that the neat ending owes very little to the actions of the main character in the "present day" - there's connections formed in childhood that only just come back around all at once and we only see bits and pieces of how they happened and a loose friendship where the other person seemingly took it upon herself to get the MC's abusive violent boyfriend shot in a way that framed him as the shooter? it's a little vague at the end exactly what happened and how much knowledge people had but it's heavily implied imo. That's not bad exactly - everyone needs support and it's good to show stuff happening as a group effort, obviously. It more just adds to the sense that things wrapped up due purely to coincidence than anything else. Which... again I guess that's not that inaccurate to real life. So again I can't exactly mark it down for that.

I think the explicit child sexual abuse scene really threw me for a loop and eclipsed everything else about the book. Not suggesting it's wrong to portray it, just it was so intense (even though I had to skim it) that I couldn't really get settled about how I feel about the book due to feeling so upset and lost reading that.

I will say as an obvious unalloyed good thing: the Trinidadian Creole writing style is really good and I loved reading it. It's an incredibly readable book that's quite compelling show less

Home Home by Lisa Allen-Agostini is an excellent book about a girl from Trinidad who learns to deal with her mental illness.

This contemporary read will give your heart a squeeze and leave you wanting for more. I fell in love with these characters and only wanted to hear more about them. Lisa did such a magical job of showing us inside the head of a teenage girl and giving us insights into Trinidad's culture. I felt such a great connection with the struggles of mental health and not feeling show more like you fit in. Also - LGBTQ representation!

Such a wonderful and easy read that is a must read on my list!

Four out of five stars! show less