Black Cake
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This is a debut novel, and no offense, girly, but it shows (says the woman with no novel to speak of). It has the bones of a great story– a mother dies, leaving behind a tape that reveals a deep, dark past, forcing her two estranged children to reconvene. I’m automatically intrigued but also wary; a multi-generational, cross-continental story with several narrators is a daunting task. Lots of things were thrown at the wall, and very little stuck.
For example, the characters don’t feel very distinct to me. They do a lot of things (one is good at swimming, one is charming when it comes to public speaking, etc.), but I never got a strong grasp on who they are as people. I never got a grip on their voices. To add insult to injury, while the scope of the story is quite large, we never get the father’s POV. And he’s theoretically interesting! My thought is that if you’re going to cover everyone under the sun, you might as well throw him into the mix while you’re at it.
I can appreciate the opportunity to hear a loved one’s entire life story. Still, Black Cake became more about that story and less about the present-day problem: the estranged sibling relationship. It shifted attention to tying up a bunch of loose ends from the mother’s past, and I grew weary of the diversion. The siblings were the meat! As humans, we’re able to conveniently distort the truth, convincing ourselves of biased versions of reality to help make us feel at peace. We become stubborn and defiant in those edited narratives, which can lead to a steady build-up of misunderstanding between us and the people we love. That dynamic is harder to write, but more interesting to read. Instead, this became a story that lacked focus, dragged on, and slipped through my fingers. I give it 2 out of 5 flames.
