Reviews with content warning for Rape - Sugar

The book is well written and doesn’t give in to a virtuoso handling of misery and grief. It allows for the reader to learn about the most terrible events with a certain directedness that is not sensationalist.
That is why the ending disappointed me, but also the

fact that the reason why the Christian woman (Pearl) and later her husband Joe too, befriend the prostitute (Sugar) is more related to kin than to generosity of spirit. Rather than opening up the characters to a real Christian sense of humanity (or simply humanism), the book becomes a cliché of a lost daughter ending up in the arms (for a while at least) of her long lost father and substitute mother. Joe is described as an independent man, who doesn’t yield to gossip or toxic masculinity so the hardly credible plot twist of Sugar being his daughter undermines the sparkle of humanity to book seemed to build within a small community.
There was such a good opportunity, if one had to keep the topic of parenthood, to explore parental projections against pure acceptance and care: because they don’t know that Joe is the father, the couple who take Sugar into their homes as almost an adoptive daughter let her be who she is, although trying to steer her away from prostitution.
There are very strong moments, but they often feel like driftwood floating at the surface of things: Pearl discovering her body, her beauty, could be such an intimate and profound moment but it just “brings her back” as if things were that simple.
Nevertheless, the impeccable style of the book and the originality of the characters, despite what I mentioned make for a good read.

Content Warnings

edenangus's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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