Title: Secrets We Kept: Three Women of Trinidad
Author: Krystal A. Sital
Published: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 352
Rating: 3/5
Summary:
This is the story of Krystal, her mother and her grandmother and the secret experiences they all had with Krystal's grandfather which comes to light after he's taken ill at an old age.
Review:
This was a really fascinating read. I really like how this takes a look at three different generations of women and how we get to see this society from all of their perspectives. The book gives us a look into the culture of Trinidad and the island itself is brought to live with Sital's words; she conjures up smells, taste, people, what it looks like and most important: what it feels like.
The book details the abuse and hardship these women endured and the patriarchal society that made it possible. It's impossible not to be furious with the situation when you're reading this, but it also brings up a lot of interesting discussions around the topic.
I think the writing is very good and the way the author has weaved these stories together is excellent, but because the dialogue is written almost entirely in dialect, I found myself constantly having to read things over and out loud to make sense of it. I may have struggled with this because English isn't my first language and I think it definitely adds something to the book, but I found it a bit frustrating and it took me ages to made my way through it.
Either way, I think this is such an interesting read and it was great to get to take a look at this culture and get to know these people. It's very much worth the read if you like memoirs.
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