This is a book of elegy for a brother and also for the main character’s difficult growing-up years. It has powerful prose and wonderful storytelling with several related themes such as racism, prejudice, violence, social deprivation, sense of family and community, and mainly loss and grief. The setting is in Scarborough, Toronto’s infamous east end, where the poorest immigrants live.

The story is eloquently told in a back-and-forth style in time from the viewpoint of the main character Michael. Michael and his brother Francis are born and raised in Canada by a mother who had immigrated from Trinidad. Their father, who was from the West Indies, deserted the family when the two boys were very little, leaving their upbringing to their mother, Ruth. Ruth is the long-suffering character in the story who doesn’t complain and who works very hard by cleaning businesses and homes just to raise her children. She impressed me even more than the protagonist.

The catalyst of telling this story is in the beginning, in the character of Aisha, who has come to visit her old neighborhood and Michael lets Aisha stay with him and his mother. At this time, Michael is in his twenties working at a grocery store so he can care for his mother who suffers from dementia possibly brought on by grief for the loss of her older son and the difficulty of her life.

In the looking-back sections, Francis was a caring older brother who always stood up for Michael and taught him about life, but Francis was also headstrong and fearless. The story implies a gay relationship between Francis and a musician boy Jelly, a DJ. When Francis dies trying to protect Jelly from the police, Michael and his mother are devastated, but we learn of the way Francis dies only toward the end of the book.

In the beginning, the mourning and the grief are there and we know they are for a brother, Francis, but the more the story advances the more the discoveries of the intricacies of the plot are made.

The story depends almost totally on characterization and all characters are developed with meticulous treatment and insight. It is not always what the characters express on the outside, but what they carry in their insides that shows in their actions. It is impossible not to feel for all of the characters.

The prose is at times stark and at times poetic where every word counts. This juxtaposition of storytelling makes the story leave a powerful, lasting impression on the reader.

learning about the immigrant experience at its worst.

everything.

is David Chariandy who grew up in Toronto and lives and teaches in Vancouver. His debut novel, Soucouyant, received nominations from eleven literary-awards juries.

It is perfectly constructed and leaves a powerful impression on the reader, and despite its going back and forth in time, it is very easy to follow.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Brother   from Amazon.Com!

Created Sep 18, 2018 at 7:49pm • Submit your own review...