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In Another Place, Not Here
Beautiful and meticulously wrought, set in both Toronto and the Caribbean, this astonishing novel gives voice to the power of love and belonging in a story of two women, profoundly different, each in her own spiritual exile.From the Trade Paperback edition.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1986
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2,106 people want to read
About the author
Dionne Brand
55Ìýbooks472ÌýfollowersAs a young girl growing up in Trinidad, Dionne Brand submitted poems to the newspapers under the pseudonym Xavier Simone, an homage to Nina Simone, whom she would listen to late at night on the radio. Brand moved to Canada when she was 17 to attend the University of Toronto, where she earned a degree in Philosophy and English, a Masters in the Philosophy of Education and pursued PhD studies in Women’s History but left the program to make time for creative writing.
Dionne Brand first came to prominence in Canada as a poet. Her books of poetry include No Language Is Neutral, a finalist for the Governor General’s Award, and Land to Light On, winner of the Governor General’s Award and the Trillium Award and thirsty, finalist for the Griffin Prize and winner of the Pat Lowther Award for poetry. Brand is also the author of the acclaimed novels In Another Place, Not Here, which was shortlisted for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Trillium Award, and At the Full and Change of the Moon. Her works of non-fiction include Bread Out of Stone and A Map to the Door of No Return.
What We All Long For was published to great critical acclaim in 2005. While writing the novel, Brand would find herself gazing out the window of a restaurant in the very Toronto neighbourhood occupied by her characters. “I’d be looking through the window and I’d think this is like the frame of the book, the frame of reality: ‘There they are: a young Asian woman passing by with a young black woman passing by, with a young Italian man passing by,� she says in an interview with The Toronto Star. A recent Vanity Fair article quotes her as saying “I’ve ‘read� New York and London and Paris. And I thought this city needs to be written like that, too.�
In addition to her literary accomplishments, Brand is Professor of English in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph.
For more information, please see
Dionne Brand first came to prominence in Canada as a poet. Her books of poetry include No Language Is Neutral, a finalist for the Governor General’s Award, and Land to Light On, winner of the Governor General’s Award and the Trillium Award and thirsty, finalist for the Griffin Prize and winner of the Pat Lowther Award for poetry. Brand is also the author of the acclaimed novels In Another Place, Not Here, which was shortlisted for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Trillium Award, and At the Full and Change of the Moon. Her works of non-fiction include Bread Out of Stone and A Map to the Door of No Return.
What We All Long For was published to great critical acclaim in 2005. While writing the novel, Brand would find herself gazing out the window of a restaurant in the very Toronto neighbourhood occupied by her characters. “I’d be looking through the window and I’d think this is like the frame of the book, the frame of reality: ‘There they are: a young Asian woman passing by with a young black woman passing by, with a young Italian man passing by,� she says in an interview with The Toronto Star. A recent Vanity Fair article quotes her as saying “I’ve ‘read� New York and London and Paris. And I thought this city needs to be written like that, too.�
In addition to her literary accomplishments, Brand is Professor of English in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph.
For more information, please see
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
June 27, 2016
"They thought that the time would come when they would live, they would get a chance to be what they saw, that was part of the hope that kept them. But ghostly, ghostly this hope, sucking their jaws into lemon seed, kiwi heart, skeletons of pawpaw, green banana stalk."- Dionne Brand, In Another Place, Not Here
If a favourite poet writes a novel, I'm probably going to read it, especially when the poet is Dionne Brand. I'm writing this review very soon after reading Brand's non-fiction book, "A Map to the Door of No Return", and I'm seeing her experiences and thoughts on immigration, identity, the diaspora, colonialism etc in that book, displayed in this book. Prior to this I'd only read a few volumes of her poems; in prose form, she is just remarkable and this is a beautiful, intricate book. It did take me a while to get used to the language but once I got into the flow of things it was wonderful.
This book is set in Ontario, Canada and an unnamed Caribbean island (possibly Grenada?). The main stories are those of Elizete and Verlia. Verlia immigrates to Canada as a teenager, becomes a member of the black power movement in 1970s Toronto, then goes back to her island to try to ignite a revolution there with the exploited sugarcane workers. She meets and becomes lovers with Elizete, who eventually moves to Canada herself. The women's lives as immigrants in Canada were very difficult and transformative. When Verlia moves to Sudbury, Ontario to live with her relatives, her observations of whiteness as a black immigrant to Canada were quite interesting. She witnesses and questions the assimilation approach of her aunt and uncle and how this is toxic and seems to result in their emotional death. As immigrants are we supposed to embrace whiteness? Verlia decided she didn't want to:
"They are imaginary. They have come as far north as they could imagine. And they have imagined themselves into the white town's imagining. They have come here to get away from Black people, to show white people that they are harmless, just like them. This lie will kill them. Swell her uncle's heart. Wrought the iron in Aunt Idrisse's voice."
This book made me think, and at times it touched on personal thoughts or the many stories I've heard about from fellow-immigrants: immigration isn't easy. The tough life of a single, black female immigrant in 1970s Canada must have been even tougher. Brand is honest with her portrayal of Canada, and how others often perceive it in a way that sugarcoats very real issues:
"Except that everyone is from someplace else but this city does not give them a chance to say this; it pushes their confusion underground, it wraps them in the same skin and slides them to the side like so much meat wrapped in brown paper."
In this Brexit era when so many immigrants hear the phrase, "Go back home", it's a good time to understand why certain immigration patterns even happened. Often people rarely take into account history and how damaging and pervasive the ills of the Empire have been. There's a realization by so many of us that there is no place where we can be truly free because of history and neocolonialism.
I appreciated this book for highlighting the traumatic experiences of immigration. There were several passages that were heartbreaking because they spoke to loneliness, depression, confusion, waiting...:
"She was working edges. If she could straighten out the seam she'd curled herself into, iron it out like a wrinkle, sprinkle some water on it and then iron it out, careful, careful not to burn..."
"She has too much to tell. That's the answer, too much she holds and no place to put it down that would be safe."
"She was trying to collect herself again, bring her mind back from wherever the pieces had gone skittering. She had deserted herself she knew, given up a continent of voices she knew then for fragmented ones."
This is definitely a book I think will appeal to many. It's beautifully-written, very thoughtful, and gives a voice to Caribbean immigrant women in the big city in Canada.
If a favourite poet writes a novel, I'm probably going to read it, especially when the poet is Dionne Brand. I'm writing this review very soon after reading Brand's non-fiction book, "A Map to the Door of No Return", and I'm seeing her experiences and thoughts on immigration, identity, the diaspora, colonialism etc in that book, displayed in this book. Prior to this I'd only read a few volumes of her poems; in prose form, she is just remarkable and this is a beautiful, intricate book. It did take me a while to get used to the language but once I got into the flow of things it was wonderful.
This book is set in Ontario, Canada and an unnamed Caribbean island (possibly Grenada?). The main stories are those of Elizete and Verlia. Verlia immigrates to Canada as a teenager, becomes a member of the black power movement in 1970s Toronto, then goes back to her island to try to ignite a revolution there with the exploited sugarcane workers. She meets and becomes lovers with Elizete, who eventually moves to Canada herself. The women's lives as immigrants in Canada were very difficult and transformative. When Verlia moves to Sudbury, Ontario to live with her relatives, her observations of whiteness as a black immigrant to Canada were quite interesting. She witnesses and questions the assimilation approach of her aunt and uncle and how this is toxic and seems to result in their emotional death. As immigrants are we supposed to embrace whiteness? Verlia decided she didn't want to:
"They are imaginary. They have come as far north as they could imagine. And they have imagined themselves into the white town's imagining. They have come here to get away from Black people, to show white people that they are harmless, just like them. This lie will kill them. Swell her uncle's heart. Wrought the iron in Aunt Idrisse's voice."
This book made me think, and at times it touched on personal thoughts or the many stories I've heard about from fellow-immigrants: immigration isn't easy. The tough life of a single, black female immigrant in 1970s Canada must have been even tougher. Brand is honest with her portrayal of Canada, and how others often perceive it in a way that sugarcoats very real issues:
"Except that everyone is from someplace else but this city does not give them a chance to say this; it pushes their confusion underground, it wraps them in the same skin and slides them to the side like so much meat wrapped in brown paper."
In this Brexit era when so many immigrants hear the phrase, "Go back home", it's a good time to understand why certain immigration patterns even happened. Often people rarely take into account history and how damaging and pervasive the ills of the Empire have been. There's a realization by so many of us that there is no place where we can be truly free because of history and neocolonialism.
I appreciated this book for highlighting the traumatic experiences of immigration. There were several passages that were heartbreaking because they spoke to loneliness, depression, confusion, waiting...:
"She was working edges. If she could straighten out the seam she'd curled herself into, iron it out like a wrinkle, sprinkle some water on it and then iron it out, careful, careful not to burn..."
"She has too much to tell. That's the answer, too much she holds and no place to put it down that would be safe."
"She was trying to collect herself again, bring her mind back from wherever the pieces had gone skittering. She had deserted herself she knew, given up a continent of voices she knew then for fragmented ones."
This is definitely a book I think will appeal to many. It's beautifully-written, very thoughtful, and gives a voice to Caribbean immigrant women in the big city in Canada.
June 15, 2013
the first half of this book is prose poetry written in what i can best describe as trinidadian english, because that is the island-english i've heard that most closely approximates the language of this book. maybe it's another island. certainly it's another island. many of the localities have french names. i don't think localities in trinidad have french names.
still, it's the caribbean and life is hell and two women love each other but life is hell and something happens to one of them and the other goes to canada to look for her.
life is hell because it's brutalized by 500 years of slavery and 500 years of exploitation and the island is a prison but also home and life is lived in the dark shadow of trauma.
brand's description of elizete's life in canada is amazing and if you have left your land (any land at all) to move to a north american city you will know exactly what she is talking about. (this is true even if you are coming from another "first world" country, though your life will probably have been infinitely better as far as material conditions are concerned).
the second part is also prose poetry but it's in standard canadian english and the poetry is less surrealistic. this part belongs to elizete's lover, and it too describes hell and Verlia's efforts at making it better by joining a black power movement and trying to organize black people in canada and the caribbean, only to be quashed mercilessly by the US-propped local dictatorships.
you can read this book for the story and you'll be happy you did.
you can read this book for the language and you'll be happy you did.
you can read this book for the hell and you'll be happy you did.
but you have to be into all three. if you are not, this book will be hard. i found it amazing and now i want to read everything this woman has written.
still, it's the caribbean and life is hell and two women love each other but life is hell and something happens to one of them and the other goes to canada to look for her.
life is hell because it's brutalized by 500 years of slavery and 500 years of exploitation and the island is a prison but also home and life is lived in the dark shadow of trauma.
brand's description of elizete's life in canada is amazing and if you have left your land (any land at all) to move to a north american city you will know exactly what she is talking about. (this is true even if you are coming from another "first world" country, though your life will probably have been infinitely better as far as material conditions are concerned).
the second part is also prose poetry but it's in standard canadian english and the poetry is less surrealistic. this part belongs to elizete's lover, and it too describes hell and Verlia's efforts at making it better by joining a black power movement and trying to organize black people in canada and the caribbean, only to be quashed mercilessly by the US-propped local dictatorships.
you can read this book for the story and you'll be happy you did.
you can read this book for the language and you'll be happy you did.
you can read this book for the hell and you'll be happy you did.
but you have to be into all three. if you are not, this book will be hard. i found it amazing and now i want to read everything this woman has written.
March 30, 2020
The first part of this novel is absolutely incredible, “poetic� in the best sense of a word that is too often limited to being lyrical. What is most special about Brand’s writing is how she employs logical rhetorical forms and devices in ways I’ve never seen. Her writing is also poetical in the sense that you want to read each passage over again. The result is difficult, but unusually rewarding. You need to let yourself flow along with the current of the prose, not trying to understand everything or put it all together. That’s better left for another reading.
But I found the second part of the novel, when the focus shifts from one character to another, not nearly as good. The second character is not as interesting but, more important, Brand changes the style of the prose with the change of character, a decision I would ordinarily welcome, but it felt like falling down a hillside to me. The writing is still excellent, but I frankly wish the novel would have ended, that the two parts would have been published separately as novellas even though they relate to one another.
But I found the second part of the novel, when the focus shifts from one character to another, not nearly as good. The second character is not as interesting but, more important, Brand changes the style of the prose with the change of character, a decision I would ordinarily welcome, but it felt like falling down a hillside to me. The writing is still excellent, but I frankly wish the novel would have ended, that the two parts would have been published separately as novellas even though they relate to one another.
September 5, 2022
“She is wounded, sated, in the kitchen, stuffed with food, and wounded. She cannot see how they think that this is love, how they think that she should live with them quietly dying in acceptance, asking permission and begging pardon, cutting herself off from any growing, solidifying when she wants to liquefy, to make fluid, grow into her Black self. She cannot see how they think that this is love.�
June 27, 2012
For readers unaccustomed to the Black Caribbean vernacular that begins Dionne Brand’s 1996 novel In Another Place, Not Here—like me—there’s a bit of an initial hurdle to leap over to sink into this book. But trust me, it’s worth it; and sink in you truly do. Brand is an exhilarating poet and although this is a novel, it’s definitely a poet’s novel. There is something—many things, in fact—deliciously seductive about the language, which rolls, rises, falls, and flows its way throughout the narrative like a river....
see the rest of my review at
see the rest of my review at
June 24, 2020
It has taken me so long to finish this but it was so necessary. Definitely a researchives, on voice, an authentic one, undistilled. But it was so fitting, Trinidad and Canada and blackness and how elusive reality can be. Dionne brand writes so honestly, I wish I had come across her sooner. Her wistfulness, woman heart more fitting to me than Eavan Boland or Margaret Atwood whose poetry I admire so much. But Brand’s work is heart wrenching and elegiac, always grief and life tied up in each other. I pray to be guided by her writing, the stories that won’t leave me, the complete compulsion of being in ones own experience and that the most important thing.
March 26, 2017
Artfully crafted, emotionally dense.
June 9, 2021
This book is a huge disappointment! I wanted to love it. It had such promise. The language is often beautiful. Dionne Brand has great talent with words. However, there is so much overwriting - pages and pages of beautiful prose for the sake of beautiful prose that do not propel the story forward. Pages and pages of lists and descriptions and repeated words and no plot - almost like an extremely long poem. For example: �...how she heard a sound waiting for her at the end of sound, how the nights there were so quiet, so quiet she heard a sound waiting for her at the end...� all this to tell us it was quiet. There is a name Adela and a name Abena - this gets confusing. The first half of the book is told by Elizete and the second half by Verlia, her lover, but their voices sound the same, other than Elizete uses patois (highly annoying to read pages and pages and pages of stream of consciousness patois going nowhere.) Some of the descriptions do not work for me - a crowd of people at a rally are like sugar?
The setting in the Caribbean was never properly defined. Because I know the history, I know it ends in Grenada at the time of the 1983 US invasion. Those events are alluded to. But I am sure many would not know this without more information being provided. Elizete’s patois sound distinctly Trinidadian and not Grenadian, and Trinidadian and Grenadian place names are jammed together. If she is trying to create a mythical, universal island, it doesn’t work for me. Neil Bissoondath’s creation of Casaquemada in “A Casual Brutality� was far more effective.
The Grenadian Revolution, or “revo,� is a fantastic topic for a novel. I’m writing a novel about it and that’s why I read this one. But although the revo plays a key role in the story, it is treated almost as an afterthought, vague where it should be specific. We don’t know why Verlia is there or what her connection is to the revo, and inexplicably at this point the novel shifts to journal entries by Verlia. So many opportunities are missed to tell this important story.
While the bare bones of the plot are intriguing - a lesbian relationship in the rural Caribbean in past times, which would have been severely frowned upon - they are never fleshed out or connected together, with the result that despite its gorgeous prose, the book was so boring it was a real struggle to even finish it, and I did not care at all about the characters or what happened to them.
The setting in the Caribbean was never properly defined. Because I know the history, I know it ends in Grenada at the time of the 1983 US invasion. Those events are alluded to. But I am sure many would not know this without more information being provided. Elizete’s patois sound distinctly Trinidadian and not Grenadian, and Trinidadian and Grenadian place names are jammed together. If she is trying to create a mythical, universal island, it doesn’t work for me. Neil Bissoondath’s creation of Casaquemada in “A Casual Brutality� was far more effective.
The Grenadian Revolution, or “revo,� is a fantastic topic for a novel. I’m writing a novel about it and that’s why I read this one. But although the revo plays a key role in the story, it is treated almost as an afterthought, vague where it should be specific. We don’t know why Verlia is there or what her connection is to the revo, and inexplicably at this point the novel shifts to journal entries by Verlia. So many opportunities are missed to tell this important story.
While the bare bones of the plot are intriguing - a lesbian relationship in the rural Caribbean in past times, which would have been severely frowned upon - they are never fleshed out or connected together, with the result that despite its gorgeous prose, the book was so boring it was a real struggle to even finish it, and I did not care at all about the characters or what happened to them.
March 15, 2025
This book is basically a 247-page poem; the writing is lyrical, non-linear, modernist, and utterly beautiful. In Another Place, Not Here is not an easy read; it is the kind of book you have to take on its own terms. But if you give it the chance it deserves, if you learn its language and its ethics, if you lean into the power of its prose, this book will open the world for you.
July 25, 2014
In Another Place, Not Here is written in such an achingly gorgeous fashion, that if approached with sensitivity and a willingness to immerse yourself into the world provided, which you must in order to finish, it will leave you heartbroken, but transformed. Brand poetically and philosophically writes of love, abandonment, resistance, the emotional liberation and trauma of immigration, global perceptions of blackness within and without of the disapora, exploitation, and the ever elusive elsewhere. It is an riveting read, but not an easy one. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile. It will leave you saddened, but soft and reflective. I know this a novel I'll revisit.
November 30, 2018
Where do we begin?
I like her style. Brand concocts the Caribbean in rich images. You attempt to follow the word's choreography as they dance away from you, unsure how you ended up on the dance floor in the first place. She drops you in the midst. The story slips by and I tried to regain my bearings.
But she is telling our stories mostly heard, seldom written. How grandmas smell blood for legitimacy, how elders watch your face and know who and who is family. Entwined with the stories of these two Caribbean women lovers who are found and lost to one another, to themselves and to the land on which they stand.
I was t/here with the characters in the place between the covers.
I like her style. Brand concocts the Caribbean in rich images. You attempt to follow the word's choreography as they dance away from you, unsure how you ended up on the dance floor in the first place. She drops you in the midst. The story slips by and I tried to regain my bearings.
But she is telling our stories mostly heard, seldom written. How grandmas smell blood for legitimacy, how elders watch your face and know who and who is family. Entwined with the stories of these two Caribbean women lovers who are found and lost to one another, to themselves and to the land on which they stand.
I was t/here with the characters in the place between the covers.
April 21, 2022
I forgot to even log this . . . this was for post colonial lit. Though the sapphic story was wonderful, and the revolution aspect was very inspiring to read, I struggled. The writing style is very very VERY lyrical, and though it was beautiful, god it's confusing to read. There would be parts of the book where I needed to step back and reread entire passages. Overall, I'm glad to have read this, but I would need to come back in a few years to truly understand the book's language.
March 31, 2021
To be honest I felt like an envious outsider/tourist almost voyeuristically looking in a 'locals' window for the real/authentic experience I was always hoping to discover. It was akin to walking over to the pavilion for the nightly, completely-choreographed-for-plain-vanilla-tastes, Caribbean dance show and stopping shocked by a raw and unscripted genuine story unfolding before me.
I tried again and again and actually read this five maybe even six times in order to find ways to relate to this very sensuous account. To this day, I still feel like a lurker when I remember how this made me feel. But it did gift me with the inkling of a perception that I have now that other people's lives are much more sensuous. This awareness was paid for by my sense of intrusion as someone else's place, "In Another Place, Not Here," was not my place to find my sense of home.
It was like visiting a tourist location where I am in the minority and I do not hear my tongue spoken, yet I am given a chair to sit on to watch a peep show. And I finally interpret what the locals are saying to me, "See this? This is something you can never have. But now that you have seen it, you will always want it."
The tourist never gets the real thing. - lol - and maybe that's the point?
I tried again and again and actually read this five maybe even six times in order to find ways to relate to this very sensuous account. To this day, I still feel like a lurker when I remember how this made me feel. But it did gift me with the inkling of a perception that I have now that other people's lives are much more sensuous. This awareness was paid for by my sense of intrusion as someone else's place, "In Another Place, Not Here," was not my place to find my sense of home.
It was like visiting a tourist location where I am in the minority and I do not hear my tongue spoken, yet I am given a chair to sit on to watch a peep show. And I finally interpret what the locals are saying to me, "See this? This is something you can never have. But now that you have seen it, you will always want it."
The tourist never gets the real thing. - lol - and maybe that's the point?
June 21, 2020
Wow! This is so beautifully written and so politically inspiring. Love and struggle.
November 27, 2020
Definitely was not smart enough for this book.
The callbacks and jumping back and forwards in time made more sense as the book progressed, but it was an uphill battle at the beginning. I think maybe this is one of those books you have to read twice. The prose is lyrical and forced me to slow down—I'm a skimmer, unfortunately—and for that I liked it. The three women the book centres around are so rich and have so much depth that it makes me want to chew on them for ever. Overall, a good time, but only if you have time to think about it for a while.
3 endings that kind of make sense out of 5
The callbacks and jumping back and forwards in time made more sense as the book progressed, but it was an uphill battle at the beginning. I think maybe this is one of those books you have to read twice. The prose is lyrical and forced me to slow down—I'm a skimmer, unfortunately—and for that I liked it. The three women the book centres around are so rich and have so much depth that it makes me want to chew on them for ever. Overall, a good time, but only if you have time to think about it for a while.
3 endings that kind of make sense out of 5
June 23, 2022
I think I will forever be reading this book for the first time. It is so challenging to read, a lot of people have rated it down for such reason, but I love how difficult and beyond the usual novel structure it goes. Dionne is a great poet and I find her honesty in it's abruptness and wit so affirming.
April 5, 2007
Reality, reality and the dreaming of each other's reality and fantasy, a story of two Caribbean women who find refuge in each other in the midst of the turmoil around them. Yes, the stuff of life, but Brand beautifully crafts this story with hints of Fauulkner and Woolf.
December 4, 2017
I am left stunned with the ending of this book. Brand's ability to craft the story with the perfect words allowed me to enter more deeply into the story. Tragic and uplifting. Verlia truly, finally went to another place, and it was not here. The final book for class and I am left stunned.
April 14, 2011
Heartbreaking, raw. Brand is a poet and this book is like an extended poem. She writes about same-sex love and revolution, imperialism, slavery, diasporic West Indians. It's so rich.
Read
April 29, 2021More poetry than a novel, it was hard to stay focused on the story - definitely a book you should take your time with if you have the opportunity to do so, which I did not!
December 11, 2023
I was today years old when I learned ‘diasporic literature� was a genre. I was just looking for the lesbians, but now I will accept nothing less than ‘diasporic literature with lesbians.�
I feel like this was a peek into my Caribbean ancestry lost over generations in the States and I need a hardcopy to read again and shelve next to the biography of my Trinidadian great-great uncle in hopes of passing them down one day. Also, to remember to read CLR James who shares my birthday.
I like the thought that, despite the myriad of ways colonization pits us against each other, that one’s experience is still valid/authentic no matter what form of resistance they choose or if they never have the space to interrogate the unfairness of it at all. Struggle is not tidy; cooperation doesn’t always arise from complete ideological/strategic consensus; and turmoil makes moments of tenderness that much sweeter.
I feel like this was a peek into my Caribbean ancestry lost over generations in the States and I need a hardcopy to read again and shelve next to the biography of my Trinidadian great-great uncle in hopes of passing them down one day. Also, to remember to read CLR James who shares my birthday.
I like the thought that, despite the myriad of ways colonization pits us against each other, that one’s experience is still valid/authentic no matter what form of resistance they choose or if they never have the space to interrogate the unfairness of it at all. Struggle is not tidy; cooperation doesn’t always arise from complete ideological/strategic consensus; and turmoil makes moments of tenderness that much sweeter.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2022
feeling pretty excited to have, I think, finally identified the novel whose title and author I could not remember, but whose cover and contents I could... tho mostly in a hazy felt way.
I have a very embodied memory from the novel of place, and of the two main characters and their relationship.
I think I originally borrowed it from a library in Essex in the very late 1980s/very early 1990s... hopefully I will find a physical/audio copy and reread...
I have a very embodied memory from the novel of place, and of the two main characters and their relationship.
I think I originally borrowed it from a library in Essex in the very late 1980s/very early 1990s... hopefully I will find a physical/audio copy and reread...
December 2, 2020
2.5/5 - the best lesson from this book is that the revolution must wait until it is the will of the people (thx Abena). I found the setting hard to follow in that sometimes I didn't know which character was talking or what was happening. I think this is due to my ignorance of the dialect used.
May 17, 2022
Dionne Brand is a brillant writer. The prose and the poetic way this book was written had me drawn in. The loose POV and switching of places kept my head in a tizzy. I wished the narrative had been tighter. However, I think if it had, the book would have lost its loose prose feeling. I loved the story and the dialect in the book. I'm a huge fan of dialect in books. The hurt and hell these characters went through can be felt throughout every chapter. It was a good read.
October 30, 2023
I loved the poetry of the writing. The way the city of Toronto feels so real and alive in this book. The magic of the feel of a woman's body. I felt swept away by the poetry dropped into places and feeling. For me it did not work as well as novel I found i felt i lost a sense of grounding.
June 1, 2024
Although it was beautifully written, and was mesmerizing in many places - it was just too difficult to follow. I also am not the strongest with poetry, which added an intense layer of problems for my reading of it. Would absolutely recommend to anyone who loves poetry though.
March 12, 2025
Unfortunately too abstract and repetitive, at times, for me.
The writing is true to the title. I never felt like I could set down roots in a location, time, or character- it'll all change again in 5 pages anyways.
The writing is true to the title. I never felt like I could set down roots in a location, time, or character- it'll all change again in 5 pages anyways.
May 20, 2017
i can read this book for the rest of my life and be deeply, utterly satisfied.
June 27, 2019
Difficult, angry, beautiful.
June 26, 2020
It's a beautifully written book, with prose that clearly shows her history as a poet.
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