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lillianirene's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
sssnoo's review against another edition
4.0
A rare exploration of Surname’s history as a Dutch plantation colony. This book is written in a plain style without a lot of litany flourish, but it tells an interesting story.
If you’re reading around the world, like me, this is a perfect book to get a peek at and understanding of Suriname.
If you’re reading around the world, like me, this is a perfect book to get a peek at and understanding of Suriname.
andrewspink's review against another edition
3.0
The book tells the story of the Dutch plantations built on slavery in Suriname in the mid 1700s. As such it is a gripping and painful story. It clearly reveals the gross injustices underpinning the wealth of the 'golden age' and also the economic instability of that system.
The books tells this story not with statistics but literature. That is where it is (imho) somewhat less successful. The characters are a little flat and stereotypical. The author has chosen to make the central character a thoroughly dislikable women. That's not such fun. I wonder if she is supposed to be a metaphor for Holland, in which case it is excusable, but otherwise giving more prominance to a character from the slaves or the escaped slaves could have given it a more positive twist.
The books tells this story not with statistics but literature. That is where it is (imho) somewhat less successful. The characters are a little flat and stereotypical. The author has chosen to make the central character a thoroughly dislikable women. That's not such fun. I wonder if she is supposed to be a metaphor for Holland, in which case it is excusable, but otherwise giving more prominance to a character from the slaves or the escaped slaves could have given it a more positive twist.
la_karina1818's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
An enhancing novel introducing us to Suriname in the 18th century, a society led by the Dutch, owners of plantations following the years of unrest among the Dutch higher society as well as the slave population revolting against them. There were various perspectives shown from the lives of the upper class through Elza and Sarith, the natives in slavery, the upper class plantation owners as well as the soldiers fighting against the Maroons (the escaped slaves from the plantations which created their own community). The plot mainly served to describe the society, politics and economy of Suriname in the 18th century, which could have been better shown if it was a non fiction book about Surinamese society at the time rather than a novel version. There were faults in the characters, mainly that some were quite two dimensional, like Sarith being the villain of the story, a spoilt young woman, sleeping with whoever she wants to, especially hurting her stepsister in the process, just for the sake of it. Later on, she indeed gets vengeance for her actions but at the end of it she is forgiven once again. Her stepsister Elza is again, the good girl, the good sister who lives her life as society tells her, being a good wife and mother. I liked that there were various characters who did question the slave system and challenged it in various ways, like giving their servants freedom and treating them as more than a slave but part of their family. In the novel there were also parallel views and conflicting points between two sides, such as how the white Christian population begins to persecute the Jewish population, the conflicting position of being a mixed race servant or being a free person yet still being in a conflicting position in society due to their race. Towards the end, it all goes downhill for all characters, as the yellow fever wipes out many of the family members as well as their children in the process. The following events towards the end were the build up of the retribution and reflection of the main characters towards what type of world they live in and how they should act towards one another. Overall, it was an alright book, but the story's faults were something that annoyed me but the main setting and historical narrative was something that kept me interested to continue.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Slavery
Minor: Sexual violence
rowanlucsimon's review against another edition
4.0
Tells an important story. Definitely would recommend & read again.
elenasquareeyes's review against another edition
4.0
Trigger warnings for slavery and all the mistreatment that comes with that.
Set in Suriname between 1965 and 1979, The Cost of Sugar is the story of two Jewish step sisters, Elza and Sarith, descendants of Dutch settlers and the children of a plantation owner. Their pampered existences become intertwined with the fate of the plantations as the slaves decide to fight against the violent repression they have endured for too long.
The Cost of Sugar begins when Elza and Sarith are teenagers. They’d grown up with each other since they were children and were close until they started to think about marriage. They’re two very different people; Elza is kind and sometimes a bit of a doormat whereas Sarith is strong-willed and flighty. That’s kind of a nice way to describe Sarith to be honest.
I think this is the first book I’ve ever read that had a narcissist protagonist, or maybe I’m more aware of what the characteristics of a narcissist are so could actually name and somewhat understand Sarith’s actions. To begin with, Sarith seems like a typical rebellious and jealous teen. She’s beautiful and gets a lot of attention and had sex when doing so before marriage is obviously a big no no but when Elza meets a man and apparently finds love and marriage, Sarith gets jealous. She can’t stand someone else being the centre of attention or getting something she doesn’t have. It isn’t even a case of something she wants, it’s like Sarith doesn’t know what she wants, or she wants something just because someone else has it.
As the years go on it’s clear that Sarith is incredibly self-centred and craves attention. She wants to socialise and go to parties, even when she does get a husband and has a child. She wants to be able to have affairs but as soon as her husband seeks attention elsewhere and maybe even falls in love she does everything in her power to destroy it.
It’s not just the sisters attitudes to love and relationships that is different but also their attitude towards slaves. They’ve both grown up with house girls and slaves and are used to others doing things for them but where Sarith is cruel and sees the servants as lesser than, Elza cares about them and loves those who have been a part of her family for so long. Sure, as they’re slaves it can be argued they don’t have much of a choice about being kind towards Elza but there is a different amount of respect between Elza and her slaves and that of Sarith and hers.
While all the family drama is going on (Elza is content to be a wife and mother while Sarith implodes her life in different ways) there’s also the uprising of runaway slaves who attack plantations, killing the white owners, setting the slaves free and looting and burning what’s left. As The Cost of Sugar is almost always from the white characters points of view, these attacks are seen as a looming threat and it’s almost like a ticking timebomb for how long their life of privilege can last. There are few “good” white characters. Elza’s husband for instance came from the Netherlands to Suriname as an adult so has a different idea of how slaves should be treated as he’s so used to what is seen as the norm there. He teaches his houseboy how to read and write and speak Dutch and gives him the opportunity to earn his freedom. Still, any white character who has slaves and does nothing to change things isn’t that good.
The Cost of Sugar is an interesting look at the that time period and the dynamic between plantation owners and slaves outside of North America. I don’t think I’d read a story that focused on white European slave owners rather than American ones before. While there are certainly a lot of similarities, there were some cultural differences too which was interesting. For instance, the bigotry towards Jewish white people from the protestant white people is brought up throughout the novel. The Cost of Sugar is a pretty engaging read and the short chapters and different characters points of view help make it a quick read.
Set in Suriname between 1965 and 1979, The Cost of Sugar is the story of two Jewish step sisters, Elza and Sarith, descendants of Dutch settlers and the children of a plantation owner. Their pampered existences become intertwined with the fate of the plantations as the slaves decide to fight against the violent repression they have endured for too long.
The Cost of Sugar begins when Elza and Sarith are teenagers. They’d grown up with each other since they were children and were close until they started to think about marriage. They’re two very different people; Elza is kind and sometimes a bit of a doormat whereas Sarith is strong-willed and flighty. That’s kind of a nice way to describe Sarith to be honest.
I think this is the first book I’ve ever read that had a narcissist protagonist, or maybe I’m more aware of what the characteristics of a narcissist are so could actually name and somewhat understand Sarith’s actions. To begin with, Sarith seems like a typical rebellious and jealous teen. She’s beautiful and gets a lot of attention and had sex when doing so before marriage is obviously a big no no but when Elza meets a man and apparently finds love and marriage, Sarith gets jealous. She can’t stand someone else being the centre of attention or getting something she doesn’t have. It isn’t even a case of something she wants, it’s like Sarith doesn’t know what she wants, or she wants something just because someone else has it.
As the years go on it’s clear that Sarith is incredibly self-centred and craves attention. She wants to socialise and go to parties, even when she does get a husband and has a child. She wants to be able to have affairs but as soon as her husband seeks attention elsewhere and maybe even falls in love she does everything in her power to destroy it.
It’s not just the sisters attitudes to love and relationships that is different but also their attitude towards slaves. They’ve both grown up with house girls and slaves and are used to others doing things for them but where Sarith is cruel and sees the servants as lesser than, Elza cares about them and loves those who have been a part of her family for so long. Sure, as they’re slaves it can be argued they don’t have much of a choice about being kind towards Elza but there is a different amount of respect between Elza and her slaves and that of Sarith and hers.
While all the family drama is going on (Elza is content to be a wife and mother while Sarith implodes her life in different ways) there’s also the uprising of runaway slaves who attack plantations, killing the white owners, setting the slaves free and looting and burning what’s left. As The Cost of Sugar is almost always from the white characters points of view, these attacks are seen as a looming threat and it’s almost like a ticking timebomb for how long their life of privilege can last. There are few “good” white characters. Elza’s husband for instance came from the Netherlands to Suriname as an adult so has a different idea of how slaves should be treated as he’s so used to what is seen as the norm there. He teaches his houseboy how to read and write and speak Dutch and gives him the opportunity to earn his freedom. Still, any white character who has slaves and does nothing to change things isn’t that good.
The Cost of Sugar is an interesting look at the that time period and the dynamic between plantation owners and slaves outside of North America. I don’t think I’d read a story that focused on white European slave owners rather than American ones before. While there are certainly a lot of similarities, there were some cultural differences too which was interesting. For instance, the bigotry towards Jewish white people from the protestant white people is brought up throughout the novel. The Cost of Sugar is a pretty engaging read and the short chapters and different characters points of view help make it a quick read.
timothy_doekhie's review against another edition
5.0
"Hoe duur was de suiker?" is een roman geschreven door Cynthia McLeod over het dagelijks leven van verschillende mensen tijdens de slavernij.
Deze roman is zonder twijfel het beste boek ooit geschreven in de Surinaamse literatuur. Het combineert de geschiedenis van de suikercultuur en de Boni-oorlogen in de periode 1765-1779 en hoe de maatschappij toen in elkaar zat en onderscheidt zich nog meer door het uit het perspectief van een Joodse plantersfamilie en hun slaven te vertellen.
De stukken in het Sranantongo zijn een fantastisch onderdeel van het boek en zorgen voor een betere immersie in het verhaal dankzij het realisme. De verhaallijn was interessant en houd de aandacht vast. De karakters hebben vele nuances en zijn niet overdreven goed of slecht zoals men zou verwachten in een boek over de slavernij, Mvr. McLeod is niet bang om de vreselijke dingen die tijdens de slavernij gebeurde te laten zien.
Dit boek is een must-read voor iedereen, vooral mensen die meer willen leren over de slavernij en mensen met Surinaamse roots.
Deze roman is zonder twijfel het beste boek ooit geschreven in de Surinaamse literatuur. Het combineert de geschiedenis van de suikercultuur en de Boni-oorlogen in de periode 1765-1779 en hoe de maatschappij toen in elkaar zat en onderscheidt zich nog meer door het uit het perspectief van een Joodse plantersfamilie en hun slaven te vertellen.
De stukken in het Sranantongo zijn een fantastisch onderdeel van het boek en zorgen voor een betere immersie in het verhaal dankzij het realisme. De verhaallijn was interessant en houd de aandacht vast. De karakters hebben vele nuances en zijn niet overdreven goed of slecht zoals men zou verwachten in een boek over de slavernij, Mvr. McLeod is niet bang om de vreselijke dingen die tijdens de slavernij gebeurde te laten zien.
Dit boek is een must-read voor iedereen, vooral mensen die meer willen leren over de slavernij en mensen met Surinaamse roots.
wendy_verbiest's review against another edition
3.0
Mooi verhaal.
Ik heb me wel erg geërgerd aan de verwaandheid van Sarith. Wat een verwend nest. Ze denkt aan niemand anders dan zichzelf.
Ik heb me wel erg geërgerd aan de verwaandheid van Sarith. Wat een verwend nest. Ze denkt aan niemand anders dan zichzelf.