September 1, 2023
DEBUT Short story author Mitchell's adult fiction debut moves deftly between past and present to create an engrossing story of the challenges of immigration, consequences of choices made, and revelations of memories. Over 20 years after immigrating to America, Amaya Lin and her husband Brian have created a comfortable and successful life. A childhood tragedy caused Amaya to remember little of her formative years in Jamaica other than living with her Aunt Marjorie. This lack of family history has been a point of contention with her husband and his family. When Amaya is approached by a woman claiming to be her younger sister, Amaya's history of occasional blackouts increases and threaten to disrupt her orderly routine of managing the office at her husband's law firm and caring for their adult son Taiwo and her elderly aunt. Working with a psychiatrist to recover her forgotten memories, Amaya confronts secrets that threaten to tear her and her family's world apart. VERDICT For readers who enjoy tales of self-reinvention and family secrets, such as in Charmaine Wilkerson's Black Cake.--Joy Gunn
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September 15, 2023
This novel about buried and repressed memories, particularly of trauma, opens with Amaya Lin, a successful Caribbean immigrant woman settled in Northern Virginia, working with her husband in a law firm. When a woman claiming to be Amaya's sister approaches her in a parking lot, Amaya begins to question what she thought she knew about her family and her past, throwing her (and us, the readers) back in time to Amaya's journey from Jamaica to Trinidad and, later, to Washington, DC. Mitchell creates powerful supporting characters in Amaya's family members and friends, and captures the emotional realities of those, like Amaya, who leave the familiar and seek to make new homes for themselves. The spirited life that Amaya has built is well captured by the humanity and empathy of the members of her circle, and makes her reluctance to explore her past a relatable internal conflict. Mitchell's ability to sustain tension while telling a nuanced story that balances family tragedy with a vision of acceptance and support makes this an engaging and life-affirming read.
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