Jun 5

Jun 5 The Bread the Devil Knead

Author: Lisa Allen-Agostini
Publisher: Myriad Editions
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

Click above to buy this book from my Bookshop.org shop, which supports independent bookstores (not Amazon). You can also find it via your favorite indie bookstore here.

Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

Alethea Lopez is about to turn 40. Fashionable, feisty and fiercely independent, she manages a boutique in Port of Spain, but behind closed doors she’s covering up bruises from her abusive partner and seeking solace in an affair with her boss. When she witnesses a woman murdered by a jealous lover, the reality of her own future comes a little too close to home.

Bringing us her truth in an arresting, unsparing Trinidadian voice, Alethea unravels memories repressed since childhood and begins to understand the person she has become.

Her next step is to decide the woman she wants to be.

This is an engrossing and atmospheric novel with a strong feminist message at the heart of its page-turning plot. It explores an abusive love-affair with searing honesty, and skilfully tackles the issue of gender violence and racism against the lush and heady backdrop of the national festival, and the music that feeds it. It’s impossible not to root for Alethea – she is an unforgettable heroine, trapped in ways she is only just beginning to understand but shining with strength, resolve and, ultimately, self-determination.

TL;DR Review

The Bread the Devil Knead is a well-written but very heavy novel about cycles of generational trauma and childhood and domestic abuse. I appreciated it and respect it, but I can’t quite say I enjoyed it.

For you if: You’re interested in reading books set in Trinidad, and/or about the traps of abuse.

Full Review

I picked up The Bread the Devil Knead because it was shortlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize. While I’m glad that I read it, and I definitely appreciate and respect it, the brutality of the subject matter makes me not quite able to say that I enjoyed it. (TW: domestic abuse ahead)

Set in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the story is about a woman named Alethea. Having run away from an abusive household before bouncing from one bad boyfriend situation to another, she now manages a clothing shop while hiding the bruises her current boyfriend leaves her with. Two things happen to set the story in motion: one, she reconnects with her cousin (who she essentially raised as a baby brother), and two, a woman is shot and killed by a jealous boyfriend outside her shop. We also get flashbacks to her childhood, and new family secrets play into her consideration of whether she is in danger herself, whether she does or doesn’t want a change, and how much to let her friends into her life.

One thing I think this book did very well was to fully capture both Alethea and Port of Spain. I was really glad for the opportunity to read a novel written not only in Trinidad, but largely in a Trinidadian dialect. Alethea is a complex character, and the inside of her mind as we witness the impact of domestic abuse and generational trauma was very well done.

There were two main things that I didn’t quite love, though: First, there is a flashback scene toward the end of the book that, in my opinion, didn’t add anything but brutality. We as readers already knew that the events of the flashback had happened, and I didn’t feel like I needed to actually see it to understand its implication. Second, I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. I don’t want to spoil it, but I guess I’ll just say that it didn’t feel like it worked as hard as I’d hoped it might.

There are definitely aspects of this novel worthy of being read; just know going in that it’s a tough one.