★ 04/23/2018
Chariandy's powerful and incendiary second novel (following Soucouyant) probes the ramifications of police violence on marginalized communities and delivers a nuanced portrait of a family struggling to stay afloat as circumstances stack against them. Set during the summer of 1991 in the Park, a suburban Toronto housing complex, the narrative tracks the coming of age of two mixed-heritage brothers as they cling to and ultimately test the patience of their hardworking Trinidadian single mother, "one of those black mothers unwilling to either seek or accept help from others." During the boys' teen years, sensitive Michael fumbles through his first real relationship with Aisha, a girl from the block and "the sort of girl the world considers 'an example' or 'the exception,' " while his streetwise and volatile older brother, Francis, becomes obsessed with the city's burgeoning hip-hop scene. Unfortunately, Francis's passion for music doesn't quell his problem with authority, and a run-in with the police at a local hangout turns violent, with devastating consequences. Told from Michael's perspective, the novel presents a grim reality—gang shootings, entrenched racism and fear, lack of opportunity, and loss. But instead of relying on stale stereotypes, Chariandy imbues his resilient characters and their stories with strength, dignity, and hope. This is an impressive novel written by an author in total command of his story. (July)
★ 2018-05-01
A novel about the indignities, frustrations, and joy found in a Toronto public housing complex.The Park is a sprawling complex home to thousands of residents struggling to find work, take care of each other, and get through another day. Like so many of the Park's residents, Michael and Francis are the children of an immigrant single mother. Ruth came from Trinidad with dreams of becoming a nurse; instead, she's working multiple jobs, riding buses for hours, and coming home too exhausted to even sleep. Michael and Francis are learning how to survive in the Park as young men. They know how to posture, which guys to avoid, and how to act when the police roll through. Chariandy's second novel (Soucouyant, 2007) is a slender volume with the heart of a family epic. Alternating between Michael and Francis' teenage years and a present time in which everything is darker, sadder, and Francis is nowhere to be found, Chariandy reveals a world of violence, frustrated hopes, and the delicate family bonds necessary for survival. The prose is beautiful and unflinching without giving way to sentimentality: "I know now that by the age of fourteen, you feel it. You spot the threat that is not only about young men with weapons, about ‘gangs' and ‘predators,' but also the threat that is slow and somehow very old. A mother lecturing you about arrival and opportunity while her breath stinks of the tooth she can't just for the moment afford the time or money to fix." When violence and an increased police presence enter the Park, the creeping sense of doom inches closer and readers can feel the oncoming tragedy in their guts. In the other storyline, set in the present, Michael and his mother stumble toward healing and a brighter day. Their journey, like the novel itself, isn't always easy but it is absolutely necessary.An important, riveting novel about dreams, families, and the systems holding them back.
Skillfully, by travelling at once inward, into the intimate lives of his characters, and outward, connecting the diasporic community to a wider world of postcolonial migration . . . Chariandy suggests it may be possible to endure, and even to thrive.” —New York Times Book Review
“With shrewd insight and graceful economy, [Chariandy traces] loss in paragraphs so clean and pared down, every sentence feels like a polished stone.” —Entertainment Weekly
“A sobering account . . . [and a] searing novel about the two sons of Trinidadian immigrants who dream of better lives.” —Time
“An exquisite novel, crafted by a writer as talented and precise as Junot Díaz and Dinaw Mengestu. It has a beating heart and a sharp tongue. It is elegant, vital, indubitably dope—the most moving book I've read in a year.” —Dina Nayeri, Guardian
“Crackles with electric energy . . . An important, vital and groundbreaking book. You really need to read it. It's that good.” —Medium
“In this time of gross American injustice, summer's breakout immigrant tearjerker comes from an unexpected place . . . the Toronto neighborhood of Scarborough. Wide-eyed Michael and his cynical brother Francis are taught by their Trinidadian mother to strive against the odds, even as her own broken state belies her cherished ideals.” —Vulture
“A tightly constructed and powerful novel.” —The Millions
“An enthralling and timely read.” —Independent
“A breathtaking achievement . . . A compulsive, brutal and flawless novel that is full of accomplished storytelling with not a word spare.” —Observer
“In a time of gross American injustice, Chariandy's poignant novel of immigrant struggle plumbs prejudice and the limits of social mobility in an unexpected place.” —New York Magazine
“Chariandy paints his characters with such clarity and sensitivity, it is impossible not to feel every disappointment and frustration with them. This is an evocative study of brotherhood, belonging, masculinity and race, powerful and believable enough to provoke sorrow and anger.” —Big Issue
“What can fiction do for us at a time when we are looking to understand other people's truths? As it turns out in this book, everything . . . Brother is filled with moments of swagger and bravery, of recklessness and love that sparks against the dull pain of tragedy.” —The Globe and Mail
“Chariandy's often elegiac tone and stately but spare prose establish a compelling melancholic mood. [This] revisitation of familiar territory pays off with its singular observations and insights. A novel with sentences to savour, Brother also rewards an unhurried reader with a poetic vision that while sad is also lovely.” —The Toronto Star
“In exquisitely precise, burningly felt prose, Chariandy illuminates persistent vulnerabilities and also memory as 'the muscle sting of now.” —The Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for Fiction (Winner)
“Chariandy's powerful and incendiary second novel probes the ramifications of police violence on marginalized communities and delivers a nuanced portrait of a family struggling to stay afloat . . . Chariandy imbues his resilient characters and their stories with strength, dignity, and hope. This is an impressive novel written by an author in total command of his story.” —Starred review, Publishers Weekly
“Brother is a surprising, and really shocking novel, unafraid of exploring the overlaps in love, loss, sexuality, race, place, terror and class. It is bold. It is brilliant. It marks the beginning of an absolutely mammoth literary talent.” —Kiese Laymon, author of LONG DIVISION and HEAVY
“An important, riveting novel about dreams, families, and the systems holding them back.” —Starred review,“Best Fiction of 2018”, Kirkus
“A brilliant, powerful elegy from a living brother to a lost one, yet pulsing with rhythm, and beating with life.” —Marlon James, Man Booker Prizewinning author of A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS
“Elegiac . . . The characters are well drawn, and the setting is beautifully realized. The result is a haunting story that will linger in readers' memories.” —Booklist
“Chariandy packs a slim novel with an incredible amount of weight. Here are young boys hoping for a future . . . a family wracked with grief . . . promises broken and dreams denied. And in the middle, perfectly captured by Chariandy's sparse and moving prose, one boy trying to make sense of it all” —Shelf Awareness
“Brother delivers an epic impact . . . Chariandy has something vital to share about what occurs when young lives are cut down. As readers, it is our duty to listen.” —BookPage
“Mesmerizing. Poetic. Achingly soulful. Brother is a pitch-perfect song of masculinity and tenderness, and of the ties of family and community.” —Lawrence Hill, author of THE BOOK OF NEGROES
“Riveting, composed, charged with feeling, Brother surrounds us with music and aspiration, fidelity and beauty.” —Madeleine Thien, Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author of DO NOT SAY WE HAVE NOTHING
“Brother diffracts the spare light toward feeling again, after tragedy. Chariandy deftly assembles that which has come apart in the life of a Black family; their privacies assaulted, their desires unmet. Such a timbrous novel. Such a tender work.” —Dionne Brand, author of WHAT WE ALL LONG FOR
“Beautifully written. Subtle, yet sharp. David Chariandy is an incredible writer” —Reni Eddo-Lodge, author of Why I'm No Longer Talking About Race
