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A review by sandlynn
Let Us Dream by Alyssa Cole
4.0
Alyssa Cole’s Let Us Dream is a novella published in 2017. The story is set in 1917’s Harlem — 100 years earlier, when women were lobbying for the suffrage in New York state.
Our hero, Amir Khan, is a young man from Bengal, India who has left his land behind to sail the seas and see the world before, possibly, returning to farm his land. It’s a tough life on the ship, but he has found a place, acting as chef. Although he’s been to New York City on previous trips, he suddenly decides to jump ship and seek his fortune in America. Of course, this makes him an illegal immigrant and in constant danger of being deported. Our heroine is Bertha Hines a young woman with a colorful past. Originally from the American South, her father and she traveled the country, performing. Notably, they pretended to be South Asian as that made it easier for them to be accepted by whites than if they revealed themselves to be African Americans. Bertha’s father dies and she eventually hooks up with a man in New York who acts as her pimp before marrying her. Bertha’s husband owned a club in Harlem. Bertha performed there, helped run it, and contributed to its success. When her husband dies, Bertha ensures that she inherits the club, becomes the sole owner and a noted local businesswoman. But, of course, she still faces discrimination as a person of color and a woman. She also must skirt the law since her club allows prostitution on the premises. When the story opens, Bertha is preparing to gather with other women who are fighting for the vote. But many of the “morally upright” women don’t want her help, so she ends up working with her female employees to educate them about the law and encourage them to work for the vote.
Amir enters Bertha’s life when she needs a dishwasher for her club. Despite the fact that Amir’s an excellent cook, especially of Indian cuisine, he decides to take the the lower level job, both because he needs it *and* he finds Bertha fascinating. The rest of this novella follows Amir and Bertha’s attraction to each other, as well as the struggles they face as POC in the U.S. at this time, along with Bertha’s status as a woman.
Alyssa Cole does a wonderful job of bringing this time and setting alive, and making us care about these characters in just 179 pages. I’ve been reluctant to read novellas in the past *because* they tend to do short shrift to a story and make it difficult for a reader to care about the characters. That does not happen here. However, on the downside, Ms. Cole brings such richness that I wanted to learn more about some of the side characters and see more interaction between Amir and Bertha. For instance there is one character who threatens Bertha, and yet he backs off rather too easily towards the end. We don’t see much of another important businesswoman — Mrs. Q — although she plays a key role. And, we don’t see Bertha’s first opportunity to vote — which would’ve been nice, let alone how they dealt with Amir’s immigration status. At that time, would he be considered legal just by marriage to Bertha? Anyway, the fact that I enjoyed the novella but still had questions makes me wish it had been a bit longer. I’d give the story a strong B+.
Our hero, Amir Khan, is a young man from Bengal, India who has left his land behind to sail the seas and see the world before, possibly, returning to farm his land. It’s a tough life on the ship, but he has found a place, acting as chef. Although he’s been to New York City on previous trips, he suddenly decides to jump ship and seek his fortune in America. Of course, this makes him an illegal immigrant and in constant danger of being deported. Our heroine is Bertha Hines a young woman with a colorful past. Originally from the American South, her father and she traveled the country, performing. Notably, they pretended to be South Asian as that made it easier for them to be accepted by whites than if they revealed themselves to be African Americans. Bertha’s father dies and she eventually hooks up with a man in New York who acts as her pimp before marrying her. Bertha’s husband owned a club in Harlem. Bertha performed there, helped run it, and contributed to its success. When her husband dies, Bertha ensures that she inherits the club, becomes the sole owner and a noted local businesswoman. But, of course, she still faces discrimination as a person of color and a woman. She also must skirt the law since her club allows prostitution on the premises. When the story opens, Bertha is preparing to gather with other women who are fighting for the vote. But many of the “morally upright” women don’t want her help, so she ends up working with her female employees to educate them about the law and encourage them to work for the vote.
Amir enters Bertha’s life when she needs a dishwasher for her club. Despite the fact that Amir’s an excellent cook, especially of Indian cuisine, he decides to take the the lower level job, both because he needs it *and* he finds Bertha fascinating. The rest of this novella follows Amir and Bertha’s attraction to each other, as well as the struggles they face as POC in the U.S. at this time, along with Bertha’s status as a woman.
Alyssa Cole does a wonderful job of bringing this time and setting alive, and making us care about these characters in just 179 pages. I’ve been reluctant to read novellas in the past *because* they tend to do short shrift to a story and make it difficult for a reader to care about the characters. That does not happen here. However, on the downside, Ms. Cole brings such richness that I wanted to learn more about some of the side characters and see more interaction between Amir and Bertha. For instance there is one character who threatens Bertha, and yet he backs off rather too easily towards the end. We don’t see much of another important businesswoman — Mrs. Q — although she plays a key role. And, we don’t see Bertha’s first opportunity to vote — which would’ve been nice, let alone how they dealt with Amir’s immigration status. At that time, would he be considered legal just by marriage to Bertha? Anyway, the fact that I enjoyed the novella but still had questions makes me wish it had been a bit longer. I’d give the story a strong B+.