But of course you do not only shelter in those tunnels, you do not only listen to the rain and wait for it to end. In those tunnels, you understand that you do not learn to love a man, because for the right man there is no need for the learning, the love is the most natural thing in the world. You understand that if you must learn to love a man, he is probably not the man you should be loving.
I read this novel almost a year ago and still remember every plot detail. By far, it is one of the harshest novels I’ve read. Jones is able to depict such a heart-breaking and soul-crushing novel in the fictitious Baxter’s beach in Barbados. The beautiful paradisiac, tourist-surging country is contrasted with violence, both gender and race-related, incest, murder, and a profound sense of loss of hope. The main character, Lala is pregnant when we first meet her, having labor pains she runs to the beach searching for her husband, Adan. As the pains increase, she knocks on the neighbor’s door, just as she hears a gunshot go off inside. A few moments later, Adan, wearing a mask, opens the front door where he finds Lala in labor.
After this beginning, the tragedy unravels even more and with each chapter from the voice of each of the main characters, the reader loses any hope left for the women in the story. Lala’s baby dies soon after birth because of a fight with Adan, who then steals the money she saved for the funeral. She finds support in Tone, Adam’s best friend, who lives terrified of being caught as a close friend to Lala. Mira, the neighbor just-turned widow mourns her husband and their relationship, she loses her step-children and gets harassed by the policemen in charge of her husband’s case. The women’s paths cross throughout the novel, both of them navigating their new realities resulting from the murder.
Jones is able to connect profoundly with the two women, and their pain transcends the pages as they probably depict the lives of so many women. It touches upon family ties filled with symbolism, with very domestic images of life in Barbados and metaphors. One metaphor is the title itself: Lala’s grandmother, Wilma, tells the story about a pair of sisters – one smart, one dumb – that go inside a network of tunnels underneath the town where the dumb sister loses her arm. These tunnels are present throughout the entire novel. Although hard to read, it is an eye-opening novel about the raw reality of a country usually described as paradise. As a reader, I could hardly continue reading, but at the same time, I wanted to see if there was hope in the end.
About Cherie Jones
Jones was born in 1974 in Barbados. She practiced law before she decided to write and publish short stories, where she also writes about domestic violence. This is her first novel, and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Other books written by Barbarian women
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The Map of Fiction by Women 