A review by orchidwynd
A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes

3.0

There are many passages in this book that are beautifully written and expose evocative ideas about sugar, colonialism and social justice. However, I found it difficult to buy into the romance between Moshe and Ariienne, in part, because I couldn't see Moshe in my mind's eye (though he is described constantly) and partly because the more we are told they belong together the less important their love story became as other story lines appeared more interesting - the quest for Moshe's family, Arriiene's job/other relationships, the spell on the Christies, the relationship to sugar, the four eyed woman and her changing narratives and even the lost Korean child - these are all themes I would have been happy to have explored further at the expense of the love story. The end of the novel, though, is quite raw and striking in its abstraction and perhaps the best part of the book.