Publication day for this novel!

This is a novel centered on a woman’s long journey to a satisfying life. Displaced from an island home she loved, to one in which she always felt like an outsider, she must find a way to grieve a loss for a life and future that would never have been hers.

Paulette, is raised in St. Kitts by a grandmother who taught her the value of domestic skills and the need to embrace both kindness and forgiveness. As an embodiment of those traits, her grandmother nicknames her Sweet Pea.

Fast forward to Paulette’s life in 1970s England after her grandmother goes back to St. Kitts. She fervently attempts to embrace her grandmother’s expectations. A dream of marriage and family fulfilled.

As the story opens, she is in love with a man named Denton about whom she fantasizes a storybook life. He shows up erratically and she always welcomes him into her bed after eating a hot meal she’s lovingly prepared. He is obviously an unfaithful married man but Paulette misses all the signs. In fact, he is brazen enough to attribute his own life to his close friend, Garfield.

One night, Garfield shows up at her door to tell her Denton has been killed in a car accident. Knowing how broken she is, he begins showing up to help her out here and there. Eventually, he moves in. They become lovers and have a child, Bird. Garfield would make an excellent husband but Paulette is still pining for Denton. He really has no choice but to leave her, stipulating he will remain regularly involved in his son’s life.

Paulette is unhappy. When she runs into the old man who was responsible for Denton’s death, she is enraged and begins to stalk him. She eventually realizes he’s incapable of raising his grandson alone. The child, Nellie, is not well cared for. She can’t help herself. Nellie is a boy in need and she brings him into their life. It is through this connection that she slowly begins to heal. However, it is a long and winding road to come back from grief.

Paulette tested my patience. Although she had a good heart, she was so rigid in her ideas, they took her down. She had poor judgment about people and held on to her misconceptions. The boys—Bird and Nellie— were the products of the environments they were raised. It was interesting that stereotypes were reversed. Bird, the black boy, had an easy, comfortable life, wanting for nothing and it was the white boy, Nellie, who was troubled and in need. I liked that.

Garfield, seen through Paulette’s eyes, was certainly not perfect but would have given her the life she wanted. But Paulette couldn’t let go of her Denton fantasy. I guess there is some truth to the saying you love who you love. In many ways, she was stuck in her stagnant view of the world.

Regarding the other characters, Nellie was an interesting character. For me, he was the one who had the most depth and range. His actions told it all. I thought Paulette’s one friend, the alcoholic neighbor, really didn’t add much except a bit of eccentricity. And she was so ill suited for Paulette. Too rough. Perhaps, if she had one stable friend, things may not have gone down the way they did.

Since we only see Bird through Paulette’s eyes, it’s hard to know what kind of man he will become.

I think I would have liked this book better if it had been a novella or long short story. The movement in the story inched along and Paulette’s growth was glacial. She does get to the point where she is on the trajectory for a good life. I just wish it happened sooner.

The writing is beautiful. And if you like slowly developing character driven stories, this might be just the right book for you.

British author Kitt de Waal’s work includes: Trick to Time (long listed for the Women’s Fiction Prize); Becoming Dinah (shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal); short story collection, Supporting Cast; and memoir Without Warning and Only Sometimes (shortlisted for the Irish Books Award. and this book previously titled The Best of Everything, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize.