Blessed Is the Fruit: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate literary event
Review: After finally completing "Blessed," I found Antoni's relationship between Lilla and Vel quite contrived. The beginning was confusing and it seemed as though the only reason why I continued to read was to find out what happened to Lilla and Vel. However, I didn't really care if they overcame the religious and racial boundries set before them, nor did I care for the characters themselves. Finishing this book was more of a mission than a pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: sensory overload
Review: Antoni overwhelmed the senses with many intimacies of island life and of women's beautiful and exclusive suffering. The fact that some parts of this novel were written by a white person or by a man was hard to believe. Reading this novel was like dreaming about a past life.

Rating:
Summary: A West Indian Classic
Review: Lil Grandsol lives alone in the decaying old house that is all that remains of her family's plantation wealth. Vel is the young woman who has come to replace the long-time house servant. Together, Lil and Vel battle their histories and personal demons in a poignant attempt to survive. Antoni's tale of two West Indian women, one black and one white, from different socio-economic backgrounds is a wonderful example of stepping out of oneself to write. Antoni, a male writer, did this so well that one can only attribute his artistic ability to the unique mastery of mental gender crossing. Rich in West Indian culture, with pages of perfectly rendered dialect, and one in which religion plays heavily, this novel weaves in and out of sexuality alternately confusing and intensifying the narrative.This is a novel about the power of women and connections, and it forcefully evokes the real emotions that go into unexpected and untraditional love. It is amazing that the book has not gotten more attention. Antoni is brilliant, and his book deserves to be a West Indian classic along the order of Jean Rhys' WIDE SARGASSO SEA.