“A book read by a thousand different people is a thousand different books.” ~Andrei Tarkovsky

Bernardine Evaristo’s fiction expands our knowledge of what it means to be human; narrative arcs and plot devices be damned.

So many of my friends loved this novel that I feel somewhat guilty giving it anything less than all the stars. But I just can’t.

I don’t gravitate toward fiction very often but when I do I want to be inspired by it. At first, this felt like a five star read but by the time I got to page four hundred and fifty three it felt like a soap opera. Give me characters who do more than reinforce socioeconomic stereotypes. Please.