Description
Eleanor Bennett won’t let her own death get in the way of the truth. So when her estranged children – Byron and Benny – reunite for her funeral in California, they discover a puzzling inheritance.
First, a voice recording in which everything Byron and Benny ever knew about their family is upended. Their mother narrates a tumultuous story about a headstrong young woman who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder, a story which cuts right to the heart of the rift that’s separated Byron and Benny. Second, a traditional Caribbean black cake made from a family recipe that Eleanor hopes will heal the wounds of the past.
Can Byron and Benny fulfil their mother’s final request to ‘share the black cake when the time is right’?Or will Eleanor’s revelations leave them feeling more lost than ever?
Sarah Turner –
This is a really gorgeous rich tale.
We begin with Benny And Byron who, after their mothers death, are asked by her lawyer to listen to a long audio recording she made before her death.
This recording tells the story of a young girl, growing up in the Caribbean, whose life is hugely defined by the absence of her mother, her gambling father and her love of ocean swimming.
Spamming several decades and continents, this is a wonderful family drama that really explores what makes us who we are, the secrets we keep to keep our lives and loves safe, and what it means to belong and our cultural identities.
And what happens to us when the story we thought we knew about our family and our background isn’t what we had grown up to believe.
Highly recommend.