Since race is such a popular subject these days and there are so many books about it, it has become abundantly clear that there is a right and wrong way to write about race. The Days of Afrekete gets it exactly right. It features racial (and sexual and socioeconomic and class and income) diversity and definitely has a message, but never lets it overpower the actual story.
But first and foremost, for me this was a story about choices. We meet the protagonist, Liselle, at a party, thrown for a not so happy occasion of her spouse’s thwarted political ambitions, the situation that is compounded by the fact that he may also be under an FBI investigation. The progressive diverse cast of supporting characters are saying all the right things, but Liselle’s mind is drifting back in time, to her college years, to the woman she loved, to the strange turns her life has taken to bring her to the now she’s in. Back in her college days Liselle was a player, sleeping her way through attractive female coeds, but the one that really got her was Selena. Their brief affair left an indelible mark on Liselle’s soul. It might have been a personal high, after which life has slowly and strangely tumbled in unpredictable directions, ending up married to a man, a white man, no less. And then the novel pivots to show you what became of Selena in the intervening years. So really, it covers a lot for being just over 200 pages. And where it excels is at just showing how different life turns out from what one might have hoped or dreamed about and how far you can go from love to find yourself. And then, of course, there’s the racial commentary, done cleverly and subtly. Because for all the difference it implies, it is only one of the many factors that go into relationships. Plus the author makes it work every which way, from Liselle’s biracial marriage to Liselle’s interactions with her Latina maid, it’s all in the nuances and it’s very well done. I found the Liselle/Selena romance/connection to be somewhat underdone, it seemed abrupt and undeveloped for something that meant so much to both of them. But overall enjoyed reading it, it played like a well done A list cast indie drama. Lus it’s always nice when an author manages to tell a story succinctly. And to honor that, this review is getting wrapped up, so…Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
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December 2023
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