From Publishers Weekly
Brooding, obsessive stories of contemporary black life in Canada and the Caribbean offer an intimate view of women driven by poverty to leave their homes for a hostile new country. Most works are essentially monologues, capturing the language and experiences of illegal aliens isolated yet further by their sex. Brand, the author of several nonfiction titles including Earth Magic , impresses with her fictional debut; her lyrical gifts are unobtrusively displayed, and her characters are affecting. A black nanny in "No rinsed blue sky, no red flower fences" lower case per book typography holds her little charges' hands "as if they were more precious than she, made of gold, and she just the black earth around." The narrator of "At the Lisbon Plate" detests such black self-abnegation and caustically criticizes the colonial arrogance of books like Camus's The Stranger : "Killing an Arab . . . is not and never has been an alienating experience for a European." Brand's vivid but fragmentary explorations will leave readers eager for a full-length work covering the same terrain. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith
Dionne Brand was born and raised in Trinidad, then moved to Canada where she has spent most of her adult life. Many of the characters in this collection of stories set in the Caribbean and Canada deal with issues pervasive in both cultures, including alienation, sexism, and racism. Often the stories lend themselves to being read aloud as Dionne Brand creates stories within stories: "But truthfully, what makes a good story if not for the indiscretions we reveal, the admissions of being human. In this way, I will tell you some of my life; though I must admit that some of it is fiction, not much mind you, but what is a lie, I do not live through with any less tragedy." She explores the two worlds, with their physical variations - one having the "snow, icy through the gray air," the other where "there wasn't one good reason why flowers should be so red and leaves so green" - through characters who struggle with injustices, showing the skills they develop in order to survive and the cost to each. Dionne Brand puts out a plate of thoughts for the reader; some leave a bitter taste in your mouth, for the conditions of these lives not easy to digest. But while the sweet desserts are few, they all offer food for thought. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly