Bertram Roach

What merit Only God Can Make a Tree has as a book probably lies in its vivid depiction of plantation life in the small Caribbean island nation of St Kitts and Nevis in the first half of the twentieth century. But Bertram Roach's attempt to cram a sweeping, multi-generational family drama into a little over one hundred pages is simply not successful. He hurls a series of melodramatic events—abortion! alcoholism! murder! car crashes! descents into madness! more!—in quick succession at flat, unconvincing characters in such clunky, tell-don't-show prose that the whole novel soon teeters on the verge of camp. The lack of any emotional affect to the book, however, prevents it from even working on that level, and this somehow manages to be both over the top and dull. Boo.… (más)