Red Island House: A Novel (utgåvan 2021)

I admit I was drawn to this novel for its setting - the idea of Madagascar as a topical idyll is seductive and parts of this book challenge that conception while others lean into the perceived otherness of the island nation. Overall, it makes for an interesting novel, but I was frustrated by the structure, which felt more like a series of short stories rather than a novel. ( )

I received an advance copy of this book from Scribners publishing. Thank you.
I found this book interesting. Shay, an African American, intellectual woman, marries Senna and older Italian man. He builds this dream vacation home in Madagascar, which she is to be the mistress of the house. Immediately she struggles to find her place here. Initially the foreman undermined everything she did. With the help from Bertine, her housekeeper and a local spiritual healer, she gains peace in the home. From then on and for the next 20 years, Shay struggles to find what her place is there, and in Italy. Being a wealthy, educated woman in Madagascar, puts her in a position of authority which puts her at odds with how she was brought up. Now she has a house full of Black staff, what does that make her? How is she different from the whites in America and elsewhere, who live in comfort at the discomfort of others? Also, since Madagascar is a vacation place, she sees over and over how white men come for vacation, and young Madagascar women are there for hire. It is accepted there, who is she to tell them they shouldn't make money that way, yet why is that their only option? The story tells of her conflicts. ( )