This island in the West Indies - a paradise for some, mainly white tourists. An opportunity for the residents who try to make a living - and a hell for Wilma and her granddaughter Lala who suffer at the hands of their criminal, violent men. There also is love - but heartbreak and danger too. Beautifully written, but an emotionally draining read. I had to have a break from it before finishing.
There was a time when she would discover a bruise or a swelling or a flap of broken skin she did not remember getting and it would hurt her all over again. This is not the thing she is feeling now. What she feels now is relief. This is the day she accepts that she will either kill Adan or die trying. And with this acceptance comes a type of calm, a calm that frees her: she does not go and start to make breakfast so he can eat if he comes back home from his hideout, she does not make the bed or tidy the bedroom, she does not hide the knife by the sink in the event that he is in a temper.
When his footsteps sound at the bottom of the stairs, the volume of his whistling amplified by lungs pumped full of crisp salt air, she approaches the door slowly, thinking of Baby.
