Review of "Shifting Colours" + Summer Reading Goal

I've been looking for books with a little more depth behind them than the generic chick flick I always come back to (hey, everyone has their own guilty pleasures right?). As I'm almost at the end of my English lit degree, I'm no longer forced to read things I wouldn't necessarily pick up, and what's more, I don't have the time to read ones I've missed because of the impending doom that is finals. So, over summer I'm going to try and read one that I didn't get around to every couple of weeks so that I make sure I keep my reaching schedule varied! Plus, it'll be great to read without a deadline.

Celia, mother of three, must work as a maid in South Africa in order to sustain herself and her children, two of which live with their grandmother. Miriam, her youngest child, lives with her in the white family's house and Celia must care for this young girl whilst performing all of the duties expected of her. 

However, once Michael and Rita, Celia's employers, have a stillborn baby and realise that child bearing may not be a thing in their future, they begin to look at Miriam in a new light. Informed that they will take Miriam to England, and bring her up in an economically stable environment, or she be forced to find a new job and care for Miriam, Celia does what she feels is best for her child. Breaking her own heart, she hopes that Miriam will be happy. But, living in a predominantly white area and being outcast as an outsider at school in England, Miriam longs for home. As she grows older, Miriam realises she needs to find out more about her real identity, and begins a journey back to Africa. But, will there be more surprises than anticipated in Miriam's journey to self-awareness?

This wasn't the quickest page-turner for me, but as I said, it was good to read something with a little more depth to it. However, I'm someone who is oddly affected by the mood of a book, and so much of this was an endless depressing battering of any hope. This personally made it harder for me to want to come back to. And yes, I do get that books can't always be happy-go-lucky, but when the 17th thing in a row went wrong and smacked Celia or Miriam in the face I felt like flinging my kindle across the room. But, that's a miniscule percentage of the frustration that being in Celia or Miriam's position would have produced!

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of 'Oroonoko'

When I think about literary texts on slavery, I never really consider English 17th Century ones, however, Aphra Behn's Oroonoko is radical for this alongside many other reasons. It is written by a woman, and was one of the first novels, albeit more of a novella, in English literary history. The quotation above highlights the inherent racism in it, however, as a 17th Century text it is often very forward-thinking, and approaches the issue of slavery in a much more sympathetic light than many 19th Century American texts written by a white author. 

Oroonoko is a mighty and beautiful prince. He comes back from a war and falls in love with a beautiful and intelligent woman Imoinda. He makes his intentions to have her as his wife clear. However, the king of the land insists that she becomes one of his concubines. Oroonoko and Imoinda are heartbroken at this shameful separation and eventually succumb to their desire for one another. When this happens the king sells Imoinda as a slave and she is sent overseas, yet tells Oroonoko he has had her killed. Later, Oroonoko is captured as a slave. When the pair meet once more on a plantation who knows what they will do?

This was a very powerful text for me as I mentioned in the beginning. Many critics have argued about whether this book is a celebration or critique of slavery. I found it more erred on the side of a critique, but what did you think?

Steph x

Review of "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Currently it feels like I'm drowning in a sea of paper (and believe me, my room looks like it!) as essay season is peaking, but will be drawing to a close in the next couple of weeks, so I'll definitely be posting a lot more frequently then. This quote was one of a whole plethora that I could have chosen from for their piercing realism, but I feel as though this has a lot to say about how people act in our modern world. Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God really made me think about how people act towards one another, and how we all need to come a long way before equality on any level is achieved.

Janie, a young girl with a chequered family history, is brought up by her grandmother. Encouraged to marry a man soon, so that her future does not become the same as her mother's past, Janie marries a man she does not love. However, Jody is just around the corner, tempting her with the thought of freedom, and the ability to escape to a new town run by coloured folk. Can she bear the thought of staying trapped by her husband's expectations of a mundane life for the pair of them? You had better read it to find out ...

This text dealt with a lot of issues that are still relevant today, despite being published back in 1937. Stop reading here if you don't want any spoilers. I think perhaps the most interesting part of the novel, and point that Hurston appears to wish to convey is that capitalism and racism are bound up within one another. When Janie and Jody move to the new town there is no mayor, so Jody becomes appointed as one. After this, he begins to increasingly place distance between him & Janie and the rest of the people in the town, looking down upon them as inferior beings. It is when this has occurred that racial issues are reinscribed to the town whilst everyone is a member of the same, or a similar race, Janie suddenly resembles the Queen of England, and Jody gains the air of a white man. Here the reader really gets a feel of how race and capitalism are linked: Jody's need to gain more possessions and improve labour output for the town requires him to treat the other town members as though he is superior to them, which makes them see him as a racially 'othered' figure.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Stephanie