5 / 5 ⭐️'ˢ

“Augustown” by Kei Miller

I found this one to be a compelling story that explores the complex social and historical dynamics of a Jamaican community. Set in the eponymous neighborhood of Augustown, the book follows the lives of its inhabitants as they grapple with poverty, prejudice, and the legacy of colonialism.

At the heart is the story of Ma Taffy, an elderly woman who serves as a repository of the community's history and traditions. Through her recollections, we learn about the controversial figure of Alexander Bedward, a charismatic religious leader who preached liberation and self-determination to his followers. Bedward's story is interwoven with that of Kaia, a young boy who is punished for refusing to cut his dreadlocks.

One of the story’s strengths is its evocative prose, which captures the rhythms and cadences of Jamaican English. Miller is a skilled storyteller, adept at weaving together different threads of narrative and creating memorable characters.

Overall, it’s a thought-provoking and moving story that offers a nuanced portrait of a Jamaican community grappling with issues of identity, power, and oppression. This is a book that will stay with you long after you've finished reading it.

Doña Croll does an AMAZING job on the narration of the audiobook!

I read this one this month because it was a recommended read in my ALA reading journal. ( )

Absolutely beautiful and riveting!
An immaculate plot and smooth, lyrical writing ( )

This is a really good book that manages to be both interesting and a really good read all at once.
The book starts with a chapter describing the locality, where Augustown is, what it looks like, what its people are. And the chapter finished with a short paragraph that is pregnant with possibility - and danger.
For here is the truth: each day contains much more than its own hours, or minutes, or seconds. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to say that every day contains all of history.
And with that we feel as if we are sitting a powder keg, just waiting for the apparently insignificant spark to set off an unstoppable chain of events.

And yet there are several points at which the story could have turned; the fuse could have been stamped out; but they are evident only in retrospect.

The story revolves around Ma Taffy, primarily, her niece, Gina, and Gina's son Kaia. The story is in 2 main time frames, the events of 11th April 1982 and the events of the past. We hear the story of Bedward , a charismatic preacher of Ma Taffy's youth who flew. Also in the crowd that day was a neighbour who plays a further role in the events of the later story as well.
I liked the way that there is a lot of information and research here, but it's presented lightly. There are a large cast of characters, some of them appear fleetingly, others appear and then reappear in the later time frame . It shows that the events of today are built upon the events of the past and today's trigger only takes place, in some senses, because of the past that is sitting there with threatening potentiality.

There was a lot of dialect in the speech, but the story used this more sparingly, such that it didn't feel that it took a long time to get int the story - I've struggled with dialect in the past, but these seemed manageable. ( )

This book is not long but packs in a lot. There is Jamaican history, a family saga, and magic realism. Towards the end new characters are still being added and new plotlines being introduced, but it all plays out and is a vivid read. ( )

A hauntingly beautiful and yet brutal story. It's a hard combination to pull off, and Miller does it. Lyricism can be used to make ugly things too pretty and bearable but I never felt that Miller walked into this trap--instead, his poetry of expression allowed me to look straight into the story, and to see the humanity and uniqueness of his characters.

Augustown also manages to tell a lot of story in a little book--only 250 pages. In these ways I prefer it to Marlon James's bludgeon of a masterpiece, A Brief History of Seven Killings. With Augustown, I was better able to enter the book and to enjoy it on its own terms. ( )