I parked and walked across from the creek to the bridge. In the moonless night I couldn’t see where the ashes landed. The currents would take them out of the creek and into the sea. Was this love? I don’t know. It real hurt for sure. Maybe love wasn’t for men like me.

Love After Love is told from three points of view: Mr. Chetan, Betty and Solo, and tells the story of how they become a family, sharing love stories, coming together and falling apart. Betty is Solo’s mom, she is a single mother, living her life entirely for her son; he is her one and only reason to wake up everyday. The novel starts with Solo’s father’s (Sunil) death when Solo is very young. Sunil is an abusive, drunk man that acted violently towards his wife and son. Soon after his death, Betty invites Mr. Chetan, a very decent man, to live with them in order to share the costs. Mr. Chetan becomes like a father to Solo and like a husband to Betty, despite him having his own issues that are not congruent with life in Trinidad. Nevertheless, until one rum-related night, the three live a happy life.

The night of the rum, Solo overhears her mother confess something unforgivable, he decides to leave Trinidad and become an illegal immigrant in New York. Living there with uncle and cousins, he learns how hard the American Dream is and how his life in Trinidad was truly a dream. Yet, his pride and pain, does not allow him to return, and he endures a life with double shift jobs, theft and depression. Betty stays in Trinidad, suffering her child’s loss and learning to live without him. Mr. Chetan tries to keep the two together, but Solo will not forgive and will only answer Mr. Chetan’s messages.

Although the novel is very tragic, Persaud has an exquisite narrative, its sounds almost like a song. Each character has his o her own voice that matures as time passes. Each character lives a life separated from the other two, but always coming back together. Persaud is specially talented in describing everyday life in Trinidad, and most importantly, the food. She is able to depict Mr. Chetan’s and Betty’s cooking with such detail, I could almost taste the grease off the pan, even if I had to search what type of fish they were eating. Even when Solo tries to replicate food from Trinidad in New York, my mouth watered. When I finished, I decided I enjoyed reading Love After Love, even if it is a truly sad novel.

About Ingrid Persaud

Ingrid Persaud was born in Trinidad and Tobago, she lived there until she was 18 years old when she moved to the UK for university to study Law. She is the winner of the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the 2018 BBC National Short Story award for her story “The Sweet Sop.” She frequently writes in various magazines and newspapers, including National Geographic and The Guardian. “Love After Love” is her first novel.

Other Books Written by Trinidadian Women

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Trinidadian initiatives and projects that support and empower girls and women

Network of Rural Women Producers Trinidad and Tobago

This organization was founded in 1995 with the mission to help and empower women producers from Trinidad and Tobago. Today, it is an umbrella organization that promotes rural women’s issues from them to achieve economic and social well-being. Their most important event, organized to create awareness and expand their network is called “The Mango Festival.” It is an event organized by rural women to celebrate the diversity and economic potential of mango and to promote themselves by exhibiting their produce. This year, due to the pandemic, the mango festival was celebrated via zoom.