Review by serendipitysbooks - My Mother's House

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serendipitysbooks 's review for:

My Mother's House by Francesca Momplaisir

4.0

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My Mother’s House is very hard to characterise - part literary thriller, part realistic fiction, part horror and more than a dash of magical realism. It’s the story of a Lucien, who migrated from Haiti with his wife and daughters and establishes a home in Queens which becomes a focal point for other Haitian migrants seeking help. Which sounds fine and good except Lucien is disturbed and abusive and does some truly dark, depraved things. So much so that the house, which is a character in its own right, commits suicide by bursting into flames. The writing is compelling, and the themes are undoubtedly important - generational trauma, migration, gentrification, race, class, the legacy of colonialism, the marginalisation of Black women and more. However, the content is such that this is a very uncomfortable read, unrelentingly grim and disturbing at times, which means it is definitely not a book for every reader.

Content Warnings