A Book & A Poem

by Rana Asfour

Ingrid Persaud’s novel “Love After Love” is inspired by West Indian poet Derek Walcott’s poem “Love After Love” which happens to be the most perfect poem for the beginning of a new year.

This novel, set in Trinidad and Tobago, is dazzling, heartbreaking & heart mending & a definite must read. I did have to wade through the island’s dialect, but I soon found my feet & succumbed to the magic of the electrifying prose & breezed right through it. Although I must emphasise that it is a read meant to be savoured, not only for its literary offerings but also for its culinary ones as well. By the middle of the book I was drooling over the Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian dishes. So much so that it’s all I want to eat all of next week.

A multi-themed novel circulating around who & how we love, the obligations of family & the consequences of choices made in desperation. It offered a nuanced unsentimental or sensationalist examination of life in Trinidad & Tobago. What sets it apart is that despite some characters leaving the island in search for a future in the US, the story remained rooted in the island itself. Other themes include domestic violence & self-harm handled with sensitivity.
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​Things I learnt from this novel:

1. Christopher Columbus never set foot on the island despite all history saying otherwise.
2. I enjoyed the audiobook so much so that it felt like a separate book altogether coz frankly listening to Ingrid Persaud tell the story is magnificence itself.
3. Flawed characters make for best reading experience.
4. The LGBT community in Trinidad & Tobago faced legal challenges up until 2016.
5. Joy & love come in different forms and shapes. You’d think I’d know that by now. I do. But it’s always good to be reminded that love is not one size fits all.
6. This novel is a great reminder of the importance of self-love & friendship: “...And who can’t bring peace or add a little comfort to my life can move right along.”
7. Offers great advice for new year resolution makers: “Live a little. Best to do things while you still have your own teeth in your mouth”