Description
Please, good reader, do not give up on this book midway. It will pay you to finish this book and celebrate this compelling story. Indeed, the patois becomes tiresome, the issue that a white woman is telling a black woman’s story, and the unusual setting of the book are all obstacles to overcome, but it is a worthwhile read. Miss Pauline is awaiting her one-hundredth birthday, which falls around Christmas time. She understands that she is failing and that her time may be at an end. A review of her life seems to indicate that there is unfinished business; in fact, the brick walls of her house seem to whisper that to her every night.
The story is set in a small Jamaican village where Miss Pauline has spent her entire life. Her husband had a traveling job, and she had heard of the places he had visited. Her sole aim, however, was to feed her children and escape the blistering poverty that raging weather and scarcity brought. Miss Pauline is a straight-talking, powerful woman who hasn’t been cowed by life’s challenges. Ultimately, this is a story of family and forgiveness.