Customer Reviews

Prospero's Daughter: A Novel

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This is a book with a message: the history of racism in the West Indies is insupportable. Many wrongs were committed, and sometimes the human spirit prevailed over the corrosion of racism. An important theme, but the characters are such extremes of evil and innocence that the book ends up feeling more like a civics lesson and less like literature. I felt like I was supposed to like it because of the important lesson, but I preferred the setting, the nostalgia, and the triumph of young love over old racism.

Billed as a modern telling of The Tempest, Nunez hasn't even come close.
This book will give you nightmares and/or ruin your plans to cruise the West Indies, or the appreciation of the Hibiscus blooming so lustily on your deck. Dr. Peter Gardener (get it?), madman to the max. Reading, I could picture Ms. Nunez saying, What more horrible abomination can we dream up for Dr. Gardener to perform?
I didn't get anything of redeeming value from this book. It's not about love, however nobly one tries to conjure it from this book. Prospero's Daughter is a vision of hell on earth. A three because hell was quite well described.

The story opens in 1961 with a British inspector, at the behest of the commissioner, preparing to discretely investigate a crime. The setting is Trinidad, a country on the cusp of independence from England. This is not such a long time ago; yet, Nunez' modern-day interpretation of The Tempest invokes the mood of the entrenched class-defined society of Shakespeare's time. This quality of timeliness supports the theme of a despot's controlling his victims by dependence and isolation. Nunez writes superbly about Trinidad's colonial history and vividly describes it's geographical details. And, she cleverly parallels her characters to those in The Tempest. However, even with all that, this is not her best work. The strong start begins to flag with overdone descriptions of flora and fauna and insufficient character development. Except for Inspector Mumsford, there are no surprises, no complexities in the characters. The central character, Peter Gardner, a morally corrupt, most twisted scientist never provokes sympathy. The supporting cast of his daughter Virginia, the disenfranchised Carlos and Ariana, the servant-concubine serve as little more than vehicles for Gardner's greed and depravity. Unlike when I read When Rocks Dance, I wanted the Gardner to get his comeuppance, the lovers to live happily ever after and to close the book.

My bookclub read this book and were fortunate enough to have the author's brother join us for our discussion. This gave us the opportunity to aks many questions about the island, customs, traditions, language. It was an excellent book with an accurate description of both the locale and the time during their strive for independence.

I opened Elizabeth Nunez book, "Prospero's Daughter," expecting an adaptation of Shakespeare's Tempest. The story happens in the West Indies on an island that houses a leper colony. The British Empire is disintegrating, rotted by past practice of slavery and present day racism. Descriptions of the leper colony, tropical heat, and poisonous insects, foretell trouble.

Nunez drew some plot elements from the Tempest. Although Shakespeare's play unwinds in the Mediterranean, readers may see hints of the West Indies, suggested by Strachey's 1610 report of the shipwreck of the Sea Venture near Bermuda. Shakespeare's island is a brave new world, full of enchantment. The lead role, Prospero, was duke of Milan. Betrayed by his brother, Prospero is banished to an island with his daughter, Miranda. They find the uncultured Caliban (whose name suggests "cannibal" or the "Carib" Indian tribe), son of a witch, and Ariel, a sprite that was imprisoned in a tree by the witch. Ariel becomes Prospero's ethereal servant when he frees her. Caliban teaches Prospero how to survive on the island. In repayment Prospero educates Caliban. When Caliban makes sexual advances toward Miranda, Prospero punishes him. The play's theme is redemption: Prospero reconciles with his brother and Miranda marries his brother's son.

Nunez' counterpart to Prospero is Peter Gardner, a mad genius who arrives on the island with his sweet daughter Virginia, fleeing prosecution for conducting medical experiments on people. A good-hearted native, Carlos Codrington (Caliban) is heir to an island estate. Ariana, a servant, lives on the estate with Carlos and his family. At first offering to help, Peter moves into the house and then takes over. Peter educates Carlos. Revealed as a bully, Peter remodels the estate after his own european taste. His rapacious sexual cravings are aimed at the submissive Ariana. Carlos and Virginia fall innocently in love. Enraged by the interracial affair, Peter falsely accuses Carlos of rape, tortures him, and calls in the colonial police. Although the police suspect Carlos and act to protect Virginia's reputation, the truth comes out and the lovers are united. The villainy, frustrated lovers, and happy ending impart a touch of melodrama.

Nunez combines the West Indies first-name "Carlos" with a British last-name, "Codrington." The town Codrington was established in 1666 in the country of Antigua and Barbuda and is the location of a slave rebellion that took place in 1741. "Prospero's Daughter" is less an adaptation of Shakespeare, and more a vigorous criticism of racism in the West Indies. Nunez lived in the West Indies and I see her book as a tale of social justice. Carlos is the central character who embodies the growth of West Indies independence as British influence wanes.

A must read novel....Evil and racism at the highest....This writer is the best...Hey, she was my teacher...

I am just amazed by Elizabeth Nunez's works. Discretion, Bruised Hibiscus and When Rocks Dance are my favorites as well. What an exceptional writer of our time! I am just going to await for her latest to hit number 1! Update: July 14th- I cannot believe that Prospero's Daughters has reached the top. I will be back for my full review from our Caribbean Queen of Literature. Stunning!

In Elizabeth Nunez's Prospero's Daughter, the exploits of its key characters (Dr. Peter Gardner, Carlos, Virginia, and Ariana) are intrinsically linked to key characters (Prospero, Caliban, Miranda, and Ariel respectively) and themes inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest. Both works occur on an island, both explore the principles of freedom, forgiveness and rebirth but Nunez modernizes the classic tale by adding contemporary flavors of racism, classism, colorism and domination - legacies of European colonial rule.

Staged in the 1960's, Prospero's Daughter opens with an investigation of an attempted rape of Virginia Gardner, reported by her father, Dr. Peter Gardner. As the investigation progresses, the police uncover a repulsive secret that exposes the truth behind the alleged rape and ironically parallels the historical sins of the colonizers and social unrest of the day (Trinidad's quest for independence from British rule). Nunez also folds in the rich history of Trinidad and its inhabitants when retracing the deteriorating relationship between the colonizers and the colonized. She cleverly divides the book into three sections to allow the reader to gain altering views and perspectives from Peter, Carlos, and Virginia on the series of events lea! ding up to the alleged rape.

Paralleling the play, Peter's arrival on Carlo's island home in the aftermath of a deadly storm is symbolic that a dark and destructive force has arrived. Peter steals the house by outwardly lying and squatting on the property Carlos inherited from his parents. He spews insults upon Carlos's deceased parents memory (an unmarried interracial couple), administers punishments as self-imposed `master' of the manor and batters young Carlos and Ariana's self-esteem, innocence and dignity by subtly administering psychological, physical and verbal attacks reinforcing negative stereotypes surrounding their mental inferiority, lower socia! l class and their "natural/savage" behavior. Dr. Gardner relents a bit when he decides to experiment on using his rationale - to "civilize" - Carlos (it is his duty as an Englishman to attempt to do so), but his warped thinking only exacerbates Carlo's fury over the years. Dr. Gardner's self-imposed exile on the island also fails miserably and leads to unforgivable lasciviousness and an unexpected, clandestined love affair.

This novel is filled with so many pedagogical and cultural facets that this reviewer can not do the book justice. Although it started a bit slow, the writing was such that I was pulled in deeper - constantly highlighting passages and scribbling in the margins along the way. It caused me to pause and give thought to many of the themes and the masterful handling of parallels to the original work, to modern day events and historical and current social attitudes. I was thoroughly entertained, educated, angered and appalled. This was my first time reading Ms. Nunez and I will definitely read her other works. I highly recommend it to those who can appreciate "literary" pieces steeped in history and culture. It is well done and well written!

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
Nubian Circle Book Club

First off, I have to say I am biased because, to-date, I have loved every single book written by Elizabeth Nunez. Needless to say, this book was no exception. Ms. Nunez's well-written, well-crafted take on Shakesphere's Caliban is incredible. Told from the perspective of the "native" this book explores the complexion dynamics of race, class and gender.