Lauren Francis-SharmaReseñas

This book was the kind of multi-generational saga I tend to find very compelling, following the lives of a Trinidadian family. It’s engaging and well-paced, though the adult characters remain underdeveloped. Where it really stumbles is in its constant parade of tragedy: there’s incest, sexual violence, police corruption, underage prostitution, human trafficking, and even more…it just got kind of exhausting to read.

This remarkable historical fiction moves sometimes confusedly until you settle into the dual times, places, and characters. The locales are Trinidad and the Apsaalooke (Crow) Nation, from the late 1790s-1830s. Rosa, a young, free Trinidadian Black woman who helps her parents and siblings run a farm and a forge, is under threat from ongoing colonialist power shifts, from Spanish to British to French, and the rulers’ fear of rebellion in the Caribbean. Victor, a teenager living in a Crow settlement with his Ma and his adopted father, the warrior Cut Nose, are all of mixed race, with none of the three having been born into the tribe. Victor, although loves his Montana life, never feels fully accepted and has none of the spiritual visions needed to attain manhood in the tribe. The bridge between these seemingly disparate worlds is the scout Creadon Rampley, moving between the American West and the island. Once the reader gains traction, the connections, conflicts, and outcomes in each locale are intense, violent, and thrilling. This is one of two books (the other being Lonesome Dove) that I started reading again as soon as I finished it, feeling compelled to slow down and savor the skilled writing even more the second time around. This novel is a notable achievement.

Quote: “The English had come and disrupted their lives, with their perfect mismanagement and indecision and inconsistency, with their slow unraveling terror, with their chaos that prevented sure footing, and caused them never to be certain of what would be theirs.”

This book alternates between two storylines. Victor, the son of Rosa, lives with the Crow Nation in Montana. He is on the cusp of manhood and struggling to find his vision. A young Rosa, lives in Trinidad, where her family expects her to cook, clean, and take care of the household. Rosa's talents lie in running the field and working outside, putting her in conflict with her family.

This book was a very interesting mix of stories and cultures. I particularly enjoyed reading about Trinidad, a place I know virtually nothing about. The book did not have a true ending, which I found extremely frustrating. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars.

Rosa Rendon, the daughter of a free-Black Trinidadian property owner, never fits into the 1790’s Trinidad. By 1830, she’s living with the Crow nation in what is now Montana. Married to a chief , she is raising mixed-race children. When her son grows up and comes across an old diary in Rosa’s belongings, he starts to realize why he cannot fit into the tribe and this takes the two of them on a journey reexplore her Caribbean past.

There's something a little bit exotic, a little bit magical about Trinidad. And it's not a place that appears often in fiction, or at least not in fiction that I've read. So I was intrigued by the setting of Lauren Francis-Sharma's debut novel set mainly in Trinidad, capturing life on the island, and filling in little bit of the history and politics of the mid-twentieth century as Trinidad moved towards independence and self-governance. But more than a Trinidadian story, this is a family story, a strong woman story, a mother and children story all told with the unique flavor of the place.

In 1943 in Trinidad, Marcia Garcia is just a teenager raising two small boys she calls her brothers and trying her best to keep food on the table for the three of them. She is a talented seamstress but her family obligations weigh on her and prevent her from being as successful as she might otherwise have been. Marcia is a beautiful mixture of many of the races of people on the islands and she catches the eye of an Indian police officer, Farouk Karam, who becomes enchanted with her to the point that he visits an Obeah woman whose black magic and herbs can guarantee him that he will find his way into Marcia's heart. Although their relationship starts under the cloud of the disappearance of Marcia's twin brothers, they quickly come to find happiness together. Marcia falls pregnant and she and Farouk marry. But his proper, successful family is horrified by Marcia and Farouk denies her and accuses her of actually being the mother of the two missing boys she loved so dearly and having an incestuous relationship with her father. Despite his family's vocal disapproval and these terrible allegations, he cannot quit her so while they remain married, they never do live as husband and wife; Farouk visits only occasionally, enough for them to produce four children, Patsy, Jacqueline, Wesley, and baby Yvonne. Marcia struggles along, working to support her growing family, persevering despite hardships. At the same time, Farouk is rising in the police force, seeing corruption and vice within the ranks, even extending to Marcia's powerful, wealthy, mostly estranged uncle who is high up in government. And when there is a huge scandal, it leaves no one in the family untouched.

The heat and magic of the island is coupled here in the novel with the subsistence and borderline poverty in which Marcia and the children live. Within these pages, there is the Trinidadian version of voodoo, the political corruption of the 1940s through the 1960s, drugs, prejudice, education and the drive to better one's lot, and above all the importance of family. Marcia is strong and a survivor despite the terrible hand she's been dealt by life. She, Farouk, and Jacqueline, their second daughter, each narrate portions of the story, sharing their hopes and dreams and the reality of their lives. Much of the dialogue is in a sing-songy dialect but once the reader gets used to it, it is easy enough to follow. When the story takes Marcia to the US, the plot becomes disorienting and a little confusing but that mirrors Marcia's own experience as an immigrant, abused, held captive, and taken advantage of. Trinidad plays a large background role through most of the book but when Marcia finally leaves it, her desire is not for the land of her youth but for her family, for them to join her and to make a new life with her. Francis-Sharma has captured a dysfunctional family in all its ups and downs, the fates that hold it back, and the ways in which each character is always a part of the same fabric even when life doesn't go quite as planned. The story is well written and if there's no happily ever after but instead a concession to reality, it feels true and genuine and possible.½

Love and marriage go together like - oil and water? This is a strong examination of a lifelong relationship whose failures due to past family backgrounds make for miserable outcomes for all.

Marcia and Farouk are Trindadians, Farouk a policeman born of
a proud and well-to-do Indian family (there are a large number of Indian families in the Caribbean). Marcia's politically powerful uncle has raped the girls of the family. It's like a thunderclap when they meet. Farouk's family disowns him and he is betrayed by his supervisors and by his eldest daughter's affair with a drug dealer. Marcia, a talented seamstress, is lured to the United States with the promise of well paid work, and ends up leaving her beloved island and her children, with disastrous consequences for all.

The novel is suffused with the everyday Trinidadian routine of food, friends, magic and spells, the ocean and backwoods hamlets. This is the second Caribbean novel I've read this year (the other was Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique) and I am hoping that many more will be forthcoming as we learn of the beauty and hardship that belies the cruise ship façade.

This is a nicely done debut novel about the trials and tribulations of a family from Trinidad. The central thread of the book (pun) is a seamstress and her family throughout the years. It starts when she is a sixteen year old girl raising her younger brothers due to an absentee father. It chronicles her marriage, of sorts, children and eventual move to America and her desire to bring her children to her. This is a sensitive well done book about a families struggle to overcome life's pitfalls.

I received this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

This is an incredible novel. Francis-Sharma has a light touch with complex characters, leading the reader gently through two decades in the life of Marcia Garcia. She tells the story in the first person from the perspectives of three different characters in turn, and she does it well. Each character's voice is distinct; even without the section headings telling us it's Marcia or Farouk or Jacqueline speaking, it's apparent whose perspective we're reading.

The details are so rich, I felt like I could feel, smell, and taste both Trinidad and New York City, although I've only been to the latter. Actually, Marcia's confusion and fear upon arriving in New York City felt incredibly realistic to me. I spent my first night in the city afraid to go out just because I found the size and noise of the place too overwhelming. (I did make it out the next day and enjoyed the week I spent there, although I've never felt a desire to return.)

One of the plot twists felt a little unsatisfying (I didn't quite buy it), and another felt almost unnecessary, but aside from those small complaints, I loved this book through and through. It really got me thinking about fate and accountability and the many reasons we might give up the latter and surrender ourselves to the former when the world as it is just stops making sense or when we feel too frightened to take the reins of our own lives.

Beautiful, beautiful book that leaves me feeling like getting out my sewing machine, even though the most complicated thing I'm likely to do with mine is sew some badges on my daughter's Brownie vest.

* I was given this book free in exchange for an honest review. *

'Till the Well Runs Dry explores the complexities of love and family through the experiences of Marcia Garcia. Placing her characters in Trinidad, Lauren Francis-Sharma allows politics, economics, and immigration to effect and enhance the lives of her characters, giving this old story new life.
Through tragedy, Marcia loses some lust for life. Mirroring her potential and her loss, the vibrant culture of the Island is thrust to the background. The courtship of Marica and Farouk has the promise of spice, but becomes bland. Their children have the promise of joy and celebration, but become confused. Together, they have the promise of calypso, but necessity becomes a slow, steady beat, driving them all on.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and I have rated it accordingly. The story is not happy, but it is purposeful. It it not neat and conclusive, but it is resolute. As such, I look forward to future stories from this new author.

I really wanted to like this. The blurbs and the letter I received with this ARC edition made it sound so intriguing. It was a good family story with secrets, teenage angst and rebellion, death, disappointments, betrayal and a woman's struggle to take care of her kids. But with the exception of Jackie, one of the children, I really never connected with any of the family. Perhaps I'm jaded or old or whatever but the secrets were not that exciting or disturbing. And the teenage rebellion, although very dark and ugly, I saw coming before it happened. The Trinidad location was different although I really didn't learn much about the island or the culture.

Well, gosh, it took me FOREVER to read this book, but not because it wasn't good. I'm torn, almost gave it 5 stars. Based in Trinidad and Tobago, an area of the world I knew nothing about and now want to go visit!! I got so frustrated with the characters in this book, although I realize it was probably the most realistic way they would have behaved coming from such a poor and hopeless background. This is the story of a family, from the parents' meeting through raising four kids, and finally coming to America. A great story, definitely read it!!½

I enjoyed reading 'Til the Well Runs Dry. For the most part, it was set in Trinidad. Francis-Sharma brought that island nation to life with descriptions of the poverty, housing, clothing, foods, and primarily through the dialect she used: "I know a fella, Mr. Harry, who does own the li'l bakery…[He'll] pay you a li'l somet'ing. Maybe not much, but it's betta than nutting, right?" Francis-Sharma cleverly uses Jacqueline's thoughts as she is studying for her examinations to reveal a bit of Trinidad's history and the reasons for the many races that coexist on the island. I do wish she had gone even further with the setting. The first section is entitled, "1943 World War ll, No Carnival" and the second section, "1945 WWll Not Quite Over. No Carnival, Again." Yet there is no mention of the war in these sections (nor a hint of Carnival or the lack of it), and I wonder how the war affected Trinidad, and why the author chose those subtitles.

The main character in the story is Marcia Garcia, strong and stubborn, whose "tough love" for her children and husband is so tough, that many times her family is unsure of her love at all. She faces corruption, poverty, black magic, and later in the novel has a run-in with human trafficking. At times her family and life in general seem hopeless, but she pushes on through it all, hoping for a better life.
"Til the Well Runs Dry is an interesting debut novel and I look forward to reading more by this author.

I didn't like this book. It's well written. I must give it points for one thing for sure... Normally books that take place in the islands, especially Jamaica, tend to make the entire story--narrative included--the regional dialect, making a very difficult read. I appreciate that this story kept the dialect confined to dialogue only. That's a major plus. My problem with this is just the story itself. The characters didn't appeal to me. The heroine...spreading her legs year after year and pushing out baby after baby for a man who treats her like crap. Not strong in my eyes, at all, and I hate reading about women like this, so it wasn't for me. That is all.

From the description I was expecting this to be a love story, but it is not really that. This is more a family saga, following the family of Marcia Garcia through several decades of struggle and perseverance, as she tries to keep her family together. Much of the book focuses on Marcia's relationship with her children's father, Farouk Karam. The relationship is an odd one, it begins with love, but Farouk's parents disapprove, and what results is a coupling in which Farouk is mostly absent, but drifts in and out of Marcia's house, bed, and life. It was never entirely clear to me why Marcia continued to put up with Farouk. It is always clear that he loves her more than she him. There's some suggestion that the potions and teas of an Obeah woman keep Marcia attached to Farouk. In addition to Farouk, Marcia must deal with corrupt members of her own family, including a politically powerful but morally bankrupt uncle. Marcia winds up in the United States, falling prey to various of the injustices facing immigrants.

This book gives a vivid picture of life in rural Trinidad. I preferred the first two thirds of the book, that take place in Trinidad, rather than the section in the United States. The Trinidadian setting is one of the book's best parts. My favorite character was Farouk and Marcia's daughter, Jacqueline. She is the child with the most promise, and she becomes the de facto head of the family. She is also the one who feels the effects of her family's choices most deeply. When all was said and done I found myself still puzzling over Marcia and Farouk's relationship. If there are many definitions of love, than this is perhaps one.

‘Til the Well Runs Dry by Lauren Francis-Sharma is a heartwarming and at times, heart-wrenching, first book. It’s lush with the sights and sounds of Trinidad, its people, their hopes, dreams, and the realities of their daily lives. I think of Marcia Garcia as a woman who never really had a life of her own choosing until the end of the book, yet she remained strong and persevered when others would have broken.

The language of the book is lovely and I suppose the story has been told in one way or another in other books, but it still reads fresh and is able to elicit strong feelings from the reader. I do think there were a few places that could have been better explained or tidied up….those having to do with Tanty Gertrude and her daughter and also the appearance, disappearance, and reappearance of Mr. Harlow. In fact, I found the chapters concerning Marcia’s trip to America a bit confusing and not as solid as the rest of the book.

That said, I would still recommend this book with no reservations and not hesitate to read another by Ms. Francis-Sharma.

Review based on ARC.

Oh man, how even to review this one. I signed up to get this one because it had something to do with Trinidad. That was really all that motivated me. Otherwise, it sounded kind of trite... ya know, "multigenerational" "multicultural" "blah blah blah." But my mom is from Trinidad and, unlike the author of this book, I have NOT heard much from her about her home-country. I was hoping the book might give me even the slightest of inside looks... And boy did it.

I would not describe this book as "multigenerational" or "multi-cultural," even though those are both accurate descriptions. The issue I have with those phrases is that they tend to accompany stories that don't offer much else beyond the obvious "that generation doesn't get it" dynamic or "look how different and yet the same these cultures are!" And those can be fantastic books, but I find that relying on the cheap tricks often make the story seem... well, a little cheap.

That was NOT the case here. Lauren Francis-Sharma created a compelling, interesting, fast-paced, deep, involved story with an undercurrent of.. like, gut-truth. I didn't feel as if I were reading some fantasy creation of someone with no idea of what real life was actually like. I felt like... I felt like I was maybe sitting at a kitchen table somewhere with someone's grandmother who was telling the story of her life.

And what a story. Ever so briefly: Marcia Garcia ("Mah-see-ah Gah-see-ah") lives in "the Bush" in Trinidad (i.e., the wrong side of the tracks...) with the boys she cares for. Her mind is nowhere near romance or the other frivolities of life when Farouk spots her and determines he must have her. Farouk is, of course, from the right side of the tracks, but he's young and impulsive and makes no mind of the potential cultural impact of his choice. And so begins Marcia's life.

I mean. It covers so much ground. Years, peoples, families, children, parents, siblings, crime, countries, slavery, passion, anger, etc. etc. etc. And Francis-Sharma manages to give each element her full attention.

As with all truly excellent books, describing it too much would do it injustice. This truly excellent book is being sent to my mom... maybe we can have a little Trini discussion once she's read it...

Highly recommend! For all of the reasons indicated above and because it's just a good book.

This review is for an advance copy I received through Librarything's Early Reviewers program. In 'Til the Well Runs Dry', Lauren Francis-Sharma has written one of the best novels I've read in years and the one of the best first novels I have ever read.

It's the story of a family from Trinidad, the Garcia-Karam family, and the difficulties the family members face over the course of more than 20 years. Beginning by alternating the voices of Marcia Garcia and Farouk Karam, then expanding to cover the viewpoint of their middle daughter, Jacqueline, the novel presents a fully rounded view of the primary characters and their motivations, which are sometimes inexplicable to the ones they love. It is heartbreaking and compelling. Ms. Francis-Sharma’s novel drew me, again and again, back into Trinidad of the 1940s-1960s, and I look forward to reading more novels by her.½

I am so happy to have had the opportunity to read Till The Well Runs Dry, thank you library thing.

The characters were so well developed and the Trinidadian dialect so well written I could hear it. The struggles that Mammy and her children endured all in the name of love for each other and country drove this story. It was interesting to learn of the obeah or folk lore of these island people.

I particularly loved that the chapters were delivered in alternating voices of the main characters. I know this book will resonate with me for a long time to come. I highly recommend it be read by everyone.

I received this book as an "Early Reviewer".

Set in the Island of Trinidad after the Second World War, it is the story of a family overcoming difficult odds, caused very often by the concealment of family secrets.
It begins with Marcia Garcia, a seamstress, who is a young woman taking care of her dead sister's two boys who have developmental problems. She marries an Indian policeman whose family refuses to recognize Marcia as his wife. Consequently the family of Marcia and Farouk are rarely together with both parents.

The story is narrated, in the first person, by different family members, allowing the events which happen to be interpreted in a contrasting manner. The flavor of Trinidad, with descriptions of food, sorcery, carnivals etc.,
comes through at all stages of their narrative.

This family saga is a heart-breaking example of how people do not realize what they have until it is lost or overtaken by even worse situations. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to Lauren Francis-Sharma's next book.

This rich, atmospheric novel transported me from my dreary, wintery hometown to balmy, lush Trinidad in the 1940's. In a small, poor seaside town, protagonist Marcia is working as a seamstress and raising two small disabled little boys. She begins dating Farouk, a young policeman, and as their stories intertwine and unfold over decades, family secrets and political scandals threaten to be their undoing.

Much of the book is written in dialect, and the narrator changes from chapter to chapter. I did not find either of these to detract from the story or make reading difficult. Marcia and her family and all flawed characters, likeable yet quite believable and human. I generally don't like romance stories or plotlines that are centered on dysfunctional family dynamics and I wouldn't say 'Til the Well Runs Dry falls into either of those categories.

I very much enjoyed Lauren Francis-Sharma's fiction debut and look forward to reading more of her work in the future. Her love for Trinidad shines through in her careful descriptions. This book is a wonderful testament to strong women and maternal love. Highly recommended!½

I received 'Til the Well Runs Dry as part of a Goodreads giveaway.

'Til the Well Runs Dry is the story of a Trinidadian-Indian family: mother Marcia, father Farouk, and their children. Opening in the midst of WWII, Marcia is a teenage girl caring for the infant twins of her dead older sister. Upon meeting Farouk, the pair fall deeply in love and over the course of the next two decades, raise four children through heartache, turmoil, and separation.

A beautiful read, full of gorgeous prose and imagery. Trinidad, especially mid-20th century Trinidad, is not a culture I knew much about, but Francis-Sharma's words brought it to life in vivid detail. Mainly told from the points of view of Marcia, Farouk, and one of their daughters, the characterizations are realistic and beautifully wrought, highlighting each individual's pains, loves, and triumphs.

Recommended.

After two weeks of avoiding it, I finally decided to DNF ‘Til the Well Runs Dry, by Lauren Francis-Sharma; narrated by Ron Butler and Bahni Turpin just shy of the half-way mark. It was the story of a seamstress and a policeman in Trinidad in the 1950s and 1960s who seemed unable to disentangle themselves from each other, even when they didn't seem to really like each other. It just wasn't working for me: The story had a couple of dramatic scenes, but whatever dramatic tension or energy those scenes had, was short-lived; And too I felt like I was sorting through the characters' dirty, sordid laundry. The audiobook narrators were clear in their delivery; but neither were native Trinidadians; so their accents, while providing some color, seemed a bit forced.