A review by readwithwine
Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta

4.0

This one has been on my radar all year! I was in and out of reading slumps due to the pandemic and inability to focus, so I missed out on joining the #ReadCaribbean buddy reads in May. However, I savored this one this month in our book club!

My Thoughts

Ooof! I really have been reading a fair amount of tense mother/daughter books this year! This one wasn't restricted to just one generation either, plus tied in many implications with cultural expectations between first and second generation Canadians.



The flow of this book was incredible. If it were not specified as a short story collection, I would have it pegged as a creative memoir or fiction-like memoir. The stories read like snapshots of Kara's life from age 10 to 19, and despite the disjoint in time, the story was seamless.



Each story subtly ties in the major themes of Black identity, culture and mother/daughter relationships, but I personally felt an emphasis on the identity at the start of the book, shifting to the relationships at the end of the book.



The characters, Kara, Eloise and Verna, are perfectly imperfect. Their ideals and communication left me frustrated at times because you can still see through the fights how they are tied to and love one another not matter what is going on.

“I wondered if all daughters fought with their mothers this way when they grew up.”

There are also many laugh out loud moments in this, from school kids ribbing, to the Kara's grandparents maddening fights.



I can see how this book has won so many awards, I cannot wait to see what else Reid-Benta gives us in the future!

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I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on Frying Plantain. Have you read this? Tell me what you thought! 
This review was originally posted on ReadWithWine