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Loading... Blood Kinby Ceridwen Dovey
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Following the aftermath of a coup in an unnamed country, the chef, portraitist and barber of the deposed President are held captive in the ex President’s summer retreat. None of the characters are named; they are all titled by their links with the main protagonists. Each chapter follows the thoughts of the characters as they bounce between the predicaments they find themselves in and their past. Gradually others are drawn into the mix, the chef’s daughter, the barber’s brother’s lover, the Portraitists’ wife. Their lives are entwined in ways they do not comprehend until the shocking end of the book. No one comes out of this unscathed. They are all victims of their own and others faults. Hubris, venality, greed, and lust, they all get a run. Are the revolutionaries any better that the despised deposed leader? What do you think? Experience tells us not to expect too much and you won’t be disappointed. It's hard to imagine a book about a political coup being sensual, exotic, beautiful and terrifying at the same time, but that is just what this book is. It follows three prisoners of a coup d'état, the former President's portraitist, his chef and his barber. Each character, both near and far to the center of power will draw the reader into his most personal details, his hopes and dreams, his past and present to create a complex web of what seems at first a harmless existence only to reveal in the end the true nature of power. This one is not only well written, its unique. no reviews | add a review
Ceridwen Dovey's debut novel is a stunning literary achievement and an acute character study of three men held captive after a military coup. All linked closely with the deposed president, the portraitist longs for his pregnant wife, the chef takes solace in preparing meals for the new regime, and the barber lives with the knowledge that he'd often held a razor to the throat of the man responsible for his brother's death. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Set in an unnamed country which hints at Latin America, Blood Kin is about power, and how even a small taste of it arouses the worst human instincts. The book (an economical 185 pages) is in three parts, narrated in first person by six unnamed characters:
The three men take to their detention in different ways, depending on the power they can wield. The new Commander shows his power by treating them well: he has plans for them all. So, surprisingly, they share the luxury of the guestrooms of the President's Summer Residence, and though the food is rudimentary they are fed twice daily.
But the terror of the coup is obvious: the sous-chef was shot because he tried to escape. The chef, however, adapts quickly to cooking gourmet delicacies for the Commander who has taken over. Even in this situation the chef has power: of course they can search him for dangerous implements and they can supervise his cooking, but just as he knows how to prevent food poisoning he knows how to cause it too, undetected...
The barber has reason to support the coup because his brother was shot under the President's regime. He had, in fact, inveigled his way into the President's employ to avenge his brother. Barbers, after all, with their scissors and razors, have every man they serve temporarily in their power... but this one creates trust by insinuating a little sensuality into what is an intimate procedure. He wanted to lull the President into a false sense of security but each day he could not find the will to slit his throat.
Both the chef and the barber can only exercise their power at some risk to themselves.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/09/29/blood-kin-by-ceridwen-dovey/ ( )