Customer Reviews

Belonging: A Caribbean Love Story

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I teach a university course that involves study of Caribbean literature, and I hadn't had much luck finding novels from the USVI (which I'm very interested in finding) until I came across this work. The novel is set in the early '50s. The female protagonist, Iris, has returned home to the USVI after college in the States (she's pursuing a career as a photographer). Her future lies ahead of her, more or less in her own hands. She comes from one of the "best" families on the islands, of Jewish descent (no intermarriage, apparently). She soon encounters and falls in love with a man from the States who has mysterious roots in the USVI. The novel is as much involved with Peter's discovery of his family history as it is with Iris' relationship with him. The major tension in the novel comes from the question of Peter's suitability for Iris (in the eyes of her loving but strong-willed grandmother) on the one hand and from Iris' own willfullness on the other. "Happily," everything works out beautifully for Iris: all her dreams come true. The Acknowledgments page suggests that this is Medlicott's first novel, and it shows. Every writer has to begin somewhere, though, and this is not so much a bad novel as a novel still in need of thought and revision. Medlicott has gone on to write several serial novels surrounding a group of older lady friends in or around North Carolina, I gather. _Belonging_ certainly has women in mind for its audience, as evidenced by the objects and matters to which the author calls her readers' attention (e.g., interior decoration, female spirituality, gossip, mother/child relationships, conventions of female friendship). Some readers may be a bit put off by what comes across as a "blueblood" element in the narration. Others may be highly gratified by the illusion of entering the world of those accustomed to servants and soirees. Except for Peter, and despite Medlicott's efforts to give them each a little "accent," the male characters tend to be flat: nonentities or intimidators. The female characters are more rounded, but the circumstances of their island lives may leave the reader feeling that there isn't finally much real dramatic tension here (although I do think the novel could be made into a relatively decent film, given the right treatment). The novel is divided nicely between plot and character: each receives its due share of attention. Setting isn't neglected, exactly, but this novel finally doesn't rely upon setting for its effect nor its themes. The plot events are standard fare--mysteries, machinations, a big storm, will their love overcome the obstacles. The real interest and unrealized strength of this novel comes from the setting and its circumstances, and while Medlicott clearly sees this and tries to develop it, she appears not to have been sure exactly how to get the most out of her material. She falls back therefore on the soap opera model, here set on St. Thomas, rather than writing what she might have had with more research and more attention to craft (the novel has its share of tired and odd figures of speech). Some items of fact are simply mistaken. Medlicott speaks of jet airline travel, even though jet service in and to the Caribbean was several years off in 1952. The hurricane that rips through the islands toward the end of the novel doesn't correspond with actual chronology. The USVI did not experience any hurricanes in the period covered by the novel. There's nothing wrong with stretching facts to tell a good story, but why not simply set the novel later, when both jet travel and a hurricane fit with actual chronology?? And since hurricanes are such a natural, understandable staple of Caribbean novels, why not twist the formula and use something else to express turmoil, show courage, and kill off inconveninet characters? While I doubt I will use this novel for my course, I pass it by reluctantly, since it could have been so much better than it is and could have addressed a gap I am eager to see filled. Maybe with her several serial novels behind her, Medlicott will return to the important subject upon which she, as a native Virgin Islander, could have something unique and memorable to say. For another view of the novel, see Ruby Simmonds' review in volume twelve of _Caribbean Writer_ (available online).

I enjoyed this book very much, have read all of her books and have enjoyed them immensely. I recommend anyone reading her books.