Bruised Hibiscus: A Novel [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Nunez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2000

When a fisherman pulls the body of a white woman from the sea onto the island of Trinidad, the assumed motivation for the murder is "man-woman business." As the news spreads, the rage that surfaces - born of generations of colonialism, sexual oppression, and class disparity - is the catalyst for the reunion of two childhood friends.

Rosa and Zuela were inseparable for the summer of their 12th year. After they witnessed an unspeakable act through the leaves of a hibiscus bush, however, shame divided them for 20 years. Now, upon hearing about the murdered woman, memories of the horror they witnessed resurface and bring Rosa and Zuela together in a desperate search for liberation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Caribbean gothic" aptly describes Nunez's third novel (after Beyond the Limbo Silence). The darkly lush story (based on a real-life crime) is rife with symbolism, ominous powers and fever-pitched tension between races and classes. In 1954, the mutilated body of a white female doctor washes ashore on Otahiti beach, Trinidad. When two local women--who as childhood friends bonded intensely after witnessing a young girl being attacked and molested behind a hibiscus bush--hear of the murder, they each decide to pilgrimage to a neighboring town to pray to Our Lady of Fatima. On the way, the women, Rosa and Zuela, recognize each other, and rekindle their friendship, nurturing a sisterhood that will change their lives. Rosa grew up neglected by her British, adulterous parents, and married Cedric, a tormented black school headmaster who lashes out cruelly at his faithful wife. Cedric taunts her with the idea that the murdered woman was a wife caught "in flagrante delicto" by her husband. Zuela's life has been equally harsh. At age 11, she was given away by her Venezuelan father to a merchant and opium addict, Ho Sang (or "Chinaman"), for whom she has borne 10 children in as many years. Treated badly by Chinaman, Zuela stands up to him only when she fears he will involve her sons in his illicit trade. The two women now lean on each other for strength to transform their lives and leave their husbands, but readers may believe that the true salvation in this book arises not from the hard-won peace they find but from the incantatory, authentic Trinidadian dialect with which Nunez deftly infuses the dark, devastating tale with spirit and heart. Agent, Ivy Fischer Stone. (Apr.) FYI: Beyond the Limbo Silence won the 1999 Independent Award for Multicultural Fiction.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Nunez ... takes up the themes of interracial eroticism, marriage and male violence toward women in Trinidad's complex society. -- The New York Times Book Review, Jana Giles

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (April 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580050360
• ISBN-13: 978-1580050364
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,972,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sensuous and powerful, July 7, 2000

By 

sangwij "sangwij" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruised Hibiscus: A Novel (Hardcover)

Set in Trinidad in 1954, this is the story of two women, Rosa and Zuela, who are linked by an act they witnessed together as children: the sexual violation of a young girl. Adults now, and long separated, their lives come together again through the catalyst of a murdered woman's body found by a fisherman. The murder, and their husbands' reaction to it, shakes loose something in the consciousness of both women. This is "man-woman business." They recognize it in its extreme, and they set about to reclaim their lives, at whatever cost. The book is a dark exploration of sexuality and power and is well worth the read. My one objection is to the style of the book. The prose definitely veers toward the purple end of the spectrum, and the run-on sentences often include repeated parts of previous sentences, that repeat over and over throughout the book. This is done perhaps to lend power to the words, in the manner of an incantation, but the effect is somewhat akin to reading "This is the house that Jack built..." and becomes an obtrusion that ends up detracting from, rather than enhancing this powerful story.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Telling Beautiful/Painful Truths, November 5, 2000

By 

Kim R (Miami, Florida USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruised Hibiscus: A Novel (Hardcover)

One of the things I liked best about this book is how Elizabeth Nunez unflinchingly tells some pretty "hard truths" about issues that most writers would rather skirt: colonialism, racism, male/female relationships, sexual and emotional abuse, murder and power relations. However, let me not give the impression that this is some kind of boring, heavy-handed manifesto -- I lost sleep over "Bruised Hibiscus" because I couldn't put the book down. It's a painful, traumatic kind of read (especially for anyone who has suffered abuse themselves) that doesn't exactly make you feel like skipping through the tulips once you've finished -- but that's exactly the point. It's also an engaging, thought-provoking, and beautifully written book that really "hooks" you.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful novel, October 4, 2000

By 

LaMer (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruised Hibiscus: A Novel (Hardcover)

Bruised Hibiscus is a powerful novel. The author, Elizabeth Nunez, explores two Trinidadian women, their lives, their marriages, and how a series of events explodes their unsatisfactory, stagnant existence. A disturbing, compelling work, full of lush description and strongly drawn characters. A world of Caribbean obeah and Catholicism, everyday domesticity and marital drama. Throughout the book, there is always an undercurrent of the power of friendship, love, and the inescapable past. An important Caribbean work.