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francinesisterreads's review
4.0
I'm Grenadian, so I loved these stories which brought back very many childhood memories
vernellcd's review
3.0
This is a 3.75 for me. As someone who is originally from Grenada the dialect, folklore, and places described in this book brought back lots of memories.
bougainvillea's review
4.0
I really enjoyed these stories. The language was wonderful and Doux is a very compelling character. I think "Mapping" might be my favorite.
rhodaj's review
3.0
3.5 stars
This was my read the world selection for Grenada
This is a series of short stories. The first is the longest story and is about Rain, who has lived a hard life on the Caribbean Island of Paz.
The rest of the book are short stories focused on Doux, who is also negotiating a difficult life and the shame of poverty and illegitimacy.
I’m not always a great fan of short stories for a few reasons: the first being that just as you get into the swing of the writing, they’re over and secondly, that you can veer wildly between loving some stories and not being at all interested in others, which makes for a topsy-turvy reading experience. It was the latter for me with this book.
I very much enjoyed the story about Rain and the earlier stories about Doux growing up and thought I had found a real gem. The writing is lovely and peppered with local language which made it feel really authentic. The author did a great job of conveying some of the harsh realities of life and how individuals cope with them.
The last third of the book however, I didn’t really enjoy. Many years had passed and Doux was only mentioned in passing. The stories were about other characters who were loosely connected to Doux and each one constituted a kind of ghost story. I have nothing against ghost stories, but I didn’t feel that they fit seamlessly into this collection and would have preferred these to be in a separate collection and this one to have been more focused. The final two stories went back to Doux as an old woman, but I had lost a bit of momentum by then.
So a bit of a mixed bag for me, but the author is definitely a talented writer ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
This was my read the world selection for Grenada
This is a series of short stories. The first is the longest story and is about Rain, who has lived a hard life on the Caribbean Island of Paz.
The rest of the book are short stories focused on Doux, who is also negotiating a difficult life and the shame of poverty and illegitimacy.
I’m not always a great fan of short stories for a few reasons: the first being that just as you get into the swing of the writing, they’re over and secondly, that you can veer wildly between loving some stories and not being at all interested in others, which makes for a topsy-turvy reading experience. It was the latter for me with this book.
I very much enjoyed the story about Rain and the earlier stories about Doux growing up and thought I had found a real gem. The writing is lovely and peppered with local language which made it feel really authentic. The author did a great job of conveying some of the harsh realities of life and how individuals cope with them.
The last third of the book however, I didn’t really enjoy. Many years had passed and Doux was only mentioned in passing. The stories were about other characters who were loosely connected to Doux and each one constituted a kind of ghost story. I have nothing against ghost stories, but I didn’t feel that they fit seamlessly into this collection and would have preferred these to be in a separate collection and this one to have been more focused. The final two stories went back to Doux as an old woman, but I had lost a bit of momentum by then.
So a bit of a mixed bag for me, but the author is definitely a talented writer ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
elenasquareeyes's review
3.0
The first story, “Rain Darling”, is about fifty pages long and sees three women travelling to a hospital to see another, that being Rain. It then goes back and forth between Rain’s present in the hospital and her past from childhood to teen years to adulthood and how one secret shatters her whole world. Rain’s life is a sad one, stuck with an aunt who doesn’t care or nurture her, forcing her to leave school at a young age even though Rain is bright, not being able to be with her mother, sister or her beloved father. It’s really quite depressing.
What makes Rain’s story even sadder is how it’s juxtaposed with Doux’s. They both live lives that have ups and downs but how they, and their families, respond to those hazards of life is vastly different.
Doux is headstrong even as a child and will stand up for herself. She’s also smart and capable but she has teachers and family who support and encourage her. Looking at Rain and Doux it’s easy to see how vastly different a child’s life can be if they have people who care about them. There still may be issues like money, and Doux’s mother can be strict, but the fact that Doux gets to have an education and then goes to have a family of her own shows how life can be a little easier when you’ve got a firm foundation from childhood.
The ten short stories about Doux follow her as she grows up. In most she’s the main character and the story is from her point of view but in some it’s about the people around her including her children and even her midwife. There are also some stories that get a bit creepy which I wasn’t expecting. They’re like short horror stories as a woman finds an abandoned child on the street at night who is not what they seem or a woman who disappears from a car. It’s those kinds of supernatural tales that are passed on as something a friend’s uncle saw once and they’re quite disconcerting after the more standard family drama type stories.
Both Rain and Doux live in Paz, a stand in for Grenada, and the way the landscape and towns are described paint a vivid picture in your head. The fact that characters speak patois and other colloquial languages make them seem more real. Also, how language and speech patterns change over time, especially in Doux’s stories that span sixty or more years, helps show how people and society changes.
The Ladies Upstairs is an interesting short story collection and consuming Rain and Doux’s stories back-to-back make each of them more layered and interesting.
What makes Rain’s story even sadder is how it’s juxtaposed with Doux’s. They both live lives that have ups and downs but how they, and their families, respond to those hazards of life is vastly different.
Doux is headstrong even as a child and will stand up for herself. She’s also smart and capable but she has teachers and family who support and encourage her. Looking at Rain and Doux it’s easy to see how vastly different a child’s life can be if they have people who care about them. There still may be issues like money, and Doux’s mother can be strict, but the fact that Doux gets to have an education and then goes to have a family of her own shows how life can be a little easier when you’ve got a firm foundation from childhood.
The ten short stories about Doux follow her as she grows up. In most she’s the main character and the story is from her point of view but in some it’s about the people around her including her children and even her midwife. There are also some stories that get a bit creepy which I wasn’t expecting. They’re like short horror stories as a woman finds an abandoned child on the street at night who is not what they seem or a woman who disappears from a car. It’s those kinds of supernatural tales that are passed on as something a friend’s uncle saw once and they’re quite disconcerting after the more standard family drama type stories.
Both Rain and Doux live in Paz, a stand in for Grenada, and the way the landscape and towns are described paint a vivid picture in your head. The fact that characters speak patois and other colloquial languages make them seem more real. Also, how language and speech patterns change over time, especially in Doux’s stories that span sixty or more years, helps show how people and society changes.
The Ladies Upstairs is an interesting short story collection and consuming Rain and Doux’s stories back-to-back make each of them more layered and interesting.
bookofcinz's review
4.0
I really enjoyed Collins "The Ladies Are Upstairs" I loved the part where she told or made mention of the title. That really brought the book together for me.
First book by Collins and I really like the ease of the plot, I felt you were connected to the characters even if you didn't want to be.
I would definitely recommend this.
First book by Collins and I really like the ease of the plot, I felt you were connected to the characters even if you didn't want to be.
I would definitely recommend this.
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