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A review by emilybh
The Living Days by Ananda Devi
2.0
‘Cub never realised that he could love this city, find it both unnerving and alluring. Nothing was as it had been before, everything had changed since meeting Mary on Portobello Road.’
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This is an unsettling novel about a young black man who meets a white woman in her seventies, in her dilapidated house in London. Written by the Mauritian author Ananda Devi and translated into English, it explores the themes of ageism, racism and sexual abuse from a post-colonial perspective. I loved the descriptions of London, its ‘weight’ and its ‘texture’, its ‘blue or gray or black sky.’ However, I found the characterisation of Cub lacking, and the scenes of violence and grief felt mis-timed. Still an interesting account of inequality in London through the eyes of two characters with very different perspectives of the city - 2.5 stars.
.
This is an unsettling novel about a young black man who meets a white woman in her seventies, in her dilapidated house in London. Written by the Mauritian author Ananda Devi and translated into English, it explores the themes of ageism, racism and sexual abuse from a post-colonial perspective. I loved the descriptions of London, its ‘weight’ and its ‘texture’, its ‘blue or gray or black sky.’ However, I found the characterisation of Cub lacking, and the scenes of violence and grief felt mis-timed. Still an interesting account of inequality in London through the eyes of two characters with very different perspectives of the city - 2.5 stars.