it took me 2 tries to finish listening. A mother from Barbados reviews much of her life since moving to Canada: employment possibilities vs racism; her husband who left her; the different church groups she is involved with; her teenage son who is becoming involved w/unknown group. A lot of it feels repetitious, as an audiobook, but finally I got the sense of the climax it was building toward. Read by a woman with a strong accent, presumably Barbadian, which made an intriguing listen. However, unfortunately I could not understand the final sentence, which seems to have great import on the meaning of her life.

Clarke is a very well known Canadian writer who has won numerous literary prizes. The book that won the Giller Prize, the Polished Hoe, was a great story, but it was very hard to read as it was written is Bajun dialect (Clarke is from Barbados). This novel is written is plain English, but it reads as a somewhat delirious ramble. A Barbadian-Canadian woman is worried because her son is not home. As the story unravels we find out that she came to Canada as a domestic worker (popular means of immigration for those wanting to come to Canada). She eventually brings her husband and son to live with her. Clarke gives an insightful portrait of her live, her dreams and her loses. It is often hard to follow the time line, but well worth the effort. ( )

This the story of four days in the life of Idora Morrison, a Barbados-born Canadian living in Toronto. The author brings us deep into Idora's life -- her thoughts, experiences, spirituality and sexuality.

Idora is a single mother whose teenaged son is caught up in the violence and hopelessness facing black youth in Toronto today. She struggles to understand him, but knows she cannot protect him. Racism is an underlying theme in this book, as well as poverty and class divisions.

The author is a poet, which is evident in the beautiful writing which is deeply powerful, even when the style is sparse. ( )