Love After Love

15 of us in our Hythe Book Group met on a chilly late November evening (we were soon warmed up by the noodles, curry and indoor heating offered by our local pub The Hope) to discuss our sunny Trinidadian read “Love after Love”. Debbie Christie generously and very accurately summarised the book for us especially for those who hadn't read it ( beware of spoilers)Here is a summary of comments from members :-

Tricky to read. Jumps about a bit over many years. Found some of it distressing especially the self harming. Felt that Part 2 in New York was less satisfactory - became repetitive. Lack of dramatic tension - guessed that Miss Betty had killed her abusive husband although the death of Mr Cheitan was a shock. At times I skim read sections. Found Solo very annoying. Felt the slang might be dated?

Have visited the islands several times and can verify the authenticity and accuracy of her portrayal of life on Trinidad. Very much how it is - the culture, religion, food, conversational style, violence etc.and the drive to make it good in the USA. Book mentions 500 murders a year.

Couldn't put it down. Loved the way in which it was written - lack of speech marks, conversation etc. Characters came alive vividly and vibrantly. An excellent choice.

Listened to it rather than read it - an interesting experience - read by author. Learnt some new expressions - "liming" and "buller boy" amongst others. A sad book - all 3 of them desperate for love. Lack of speech marks took a bit of getting used to as did dialect, expressions and rhythm of language but soon absorbed by it.

Loved the sounds, smells. heat, food, recipes, festivals, parties, the humour and the lyrical language and great turns of phrase. Very funny at times especially Ms Betty and her women friends.

Quite explicit at times but done really well - honestly but with humour. Real emotion, love and lust.

Solo the least successful character? Witnessed the abuse of his mother but had suppressed it? Damaged childhood. Desperate to find out more about his father. Close relationship with Mr Cheitan. Was Solo in fact also gay? Unable to form relationships with women?

Well written - would recommend it - glad to have read it but a little underwhelmed. Felt Mr Cheitan was the most interesting character but the least developed and would have liked more . Ending was a damp squib.

No descriptive writing or narrator’s viewpoint - just dialogue. I prefer some description. Found this literary device limiting - no sense of any other viewpoint than the 3 main characters.

Didn't like the beginning - worried it was just going to be a focus on male on women violence. However did enjoy the story, liked the 3 main protagonists- even Solo. Would have liked to learn more about Trinidad though.

Perhaps not a particularly well constructed plot? Her first novel (won the Costa) . Main value was in the characters, expressions and portrayal of Trinidadian life and culture.
Total Scores: 86 so an average of 7.1 with points ranging from a 5 to some 9s so quite a range of opinion.

Very easy read. At first it took some time getting used to reading the conversations as these were presented without quotations. . You had to follow closely to understand who was speaking. Once that hurdle was crossed, it flowed quite easily. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the different cultural aspects, some of which I knew, but not in great detail. Personally, I think Mr Chetan was clearly a favourite character and killing him off as was done, left me feeling a bit cheated. Overall, very good book.