A million aunties: a novel
Description
American-born artist Chris is forced to reconsider his own concept of "family" during a visit to his mother’s Caribbean homeland.
"Alecia McKenzie’s tender new novel [is] an emotionally resonant ode to adopted families and community resilience."--New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
Shortlisted for the 2020 Caribbean Readers’ Awards (Best Adult Novel)!
Longlisted for the 2022 DUBLIN Literary Award!
"Delightfully original, this novel centers Chris, an American who travels to his mother’s homeland of Jamaica to reflect and heal after tragedy strikes. What he encounters is unexpected, complicated and, perhaps, just what he needs."--Ms. Magazine
"Emotional, enthralling and heartfelt...A story of loss and the infinite types of love."--Woman's World
After a personal tragedy upends his world, American-born artist Chris travels to his mother's homeland in the Caribbean hoping to find some peace and tranquility. He plans to spend his time painting in solitude and coming to terms with his recent loss and his fractured relationship with his father. Instead, he discovers a new extended and complicated "family." The people he meets help him to heal, even as he supports them in unexpected ways. Told from different points of view, this is a compelling novel about unlikely love, friendship, and community, with surprises along the way.
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9781617758959
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Published Reviews
Booklist Review
One character in McKenzie's novel identifies himself as a terrien, "citizen of Earth," as he talks about being an Algerian in France but feeling neither French nor North African, a sentiment shared by others in this tale of journeys. As the story meanders from Firenze, Alabama, to New York City and Jamaica to Paris, it is filled with characters who become a global family for American-born artist Chris, who travels to Jamaica, his mother's island, to quietly paint and mourn for his wife. McKenzie uses multiple points of view to portray a strong cast of characters, including Chris' friend and agent, Stephen, his Auntie D, his father, and Miss Pretty. The writing is evocative, capturing vivid details in descriptions of a ride on a new highway to Kaya Bay and Chris's feelings when he sees Monet's Camille sur son lit de mort, scenes finely balanced, with brisk storytelling that makes each character's experiences engrossing. Racial identity, nonfamilial relationships, and the restorative nature of art are all explored as McKenzie considers the possibility of regeneration of the human spirit even as we grapple with the tragedies of lost loves and changing worlds. McKenzie successfully integrates various speech patterns in Caribbean patois and a mixture of English and French as she takes readers on a hopeful journey across continents.
Kirkus Book Review
A chorus of voices from the Jamaican diaspora tries to define the meaning of community. As a New York City--based artist, Chris can't shake the burden of his father's expectations. Their relationship becomes increasingly strained after the death of Chris' wife, Lidia. Looking for a fresh start, Chris travels to Jamaica, his mother's homeland. Chris' agent, Stephen, who also has roots in that country, has set him up at his Auntie Della's home. For a few days, Chris is at peace, learning to draw flowers, creating art, tucking into Auntie Della's delicious meals, and being fawned over by the locals. But upon learning that his father is severely ill, Chris has to rush back to the U.S. Separate threads detail Stephen's own visit to Jamaica when Miss Pretty, another "auntie," who has had a difficult life, begins to view Stephen as her own son. In yet another plotline, Chris' father, who grew up in the South, narrates the story of his marriage to Eileen, who's Jamaican. Miss Vera, another auntie, talks about her daily life in Jamaica, reminiscing about her daughter who immigrated to Miami. These various characters drop in and out of the narrative, their reasons for doing so barely apparent. McKenzie tries to create a vibrant community of people who are tied together by love for their motherland, but the characters are so paper-thin, their motivations so cloudy, that the entire story begins to turn to mush. At first blush it appears that the mystery behind Lidia's sudden death might serve to anchor the novel, but that arc too eventually disappears into thin air. A drive-by snapshot of characters' lives. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* One character in McKenzie's novel identifies himself as a terrien, "citizen of Earth," as he talks about being an Algerian in France but feeling neither French nor North African, a sentiment shared by others in this tale of journeys. As the story meanders from Firenze, Alabama, to New York City and Jamaica to Paris, it is filled with characters who become a global family for American-born artist Chris, who travels to Jamaica, his mother's island, to quietly paint and mourn for his wife. McKenzie uses multiple points of view to portray a strong cast of characters, including Chris' friend and agent, Stephen, his Auntie D, his father, and Miss Pretty. The writing is evocative, capturing vivid details in descriptions of a ride on a new highway to Kaya Bay and Chris's feelings when he sees Monet's Camille sur son lit de mort, scenes finely balanced, with brisk storytelling that makes each character's experiences engrossing. Racial identity, nonfamilial relationships, and the restorative nature of art are all explored as McKenzie considers the possibility of regeneration of the human spirit even as we grapple with the tragedies of lost loves and changing worlds. McKenzie successfully integrates various speech patterns in Caribbean patois and a mixture of English and French as she takes readers on a hopeful journey across continents. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Jamaican writer McKenzie's thoroughly satisfying novel (after Sweetheart) explores a Jamaican American artist's grief after losing his wife in a New York City terrorist attack. Chris, 44, leaves N.Y.C. for Port Segovia, Jamaica, after his wife, Lidia, is killed in a bombing of a public park. Chris's friend and agent, Stephen, arranges for him to live with Miss Della Robinson, whom Stephen calls his "auntie," though they aren't related. In the company of Miss Della and her guests, who are drawn to the house by his paintings, he learns to laugh again. Chris's trip is cut short, however, when Stephen calls to tell Chris his father is in the hospital for surgery, and Chris flies back to New York, where he faces the rift that widened between him and his father after his mother's death from cancer six years earlier. Many characters and plot threads overlap, and McKenzie juggles them with aplomb, making Stephen the connector as aspects of Chris's artist life, Jamaican heritage, and relationship with his in-laws increasingly run together. McKenzie's prose enlivens the Jamaican scenery, describing hills that "rippled in shades of emerald" and "wind making the trees bend left and right like a spite," and she seamlessly blends the Jamaican characters' patois in first-person chapters alternating with Chris's narrative. This bighearted narrative of love, loss, and family is handled with grace and beauty. (Nov.)
Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly.