Dr. Barb’s Book Byts

This is a fictional story of a young woman from the islands, who through a twist of fate lost her identity and had to develop a new one. The story starts out with her dying in her senior years and leaving a tape for her children who knew her as Eleanor, telling the story of her life. They discover through this audio story that not only was her name totally different but so was their ancestry, as well as having a sibling they didn’t know about. They also learn about the part that Black Cake played in their ancestry. The many twists and turns of her life take the family through a love story, but also makes them face the emotional challenges of their lives in comparison to what their mother had gone through.

My book club chose this book to read from the previews showing on media of the series that was coming out on Netflix. We decided to read the book then watch the mini-series. In our discussions after watching the first few episodes we stated that the story was a little different in the video version but basically followed the book plot, however, we could see that the video took on a few more literary licenses in dealing with racism, and the GLBTQ issues that weren’t quite as easily evident in the book.

In addition, we felt the literary license taken by the videographers left out the positive closure for the family mentioned in the book. This closure involved the two main characters dealing with the new sibling and her family as well as closure with Eleanor’s father in the future. We also felt that the video version left the story so that a sequel could follow dealing with the new sibling and her family and blending of the families together.

Overall, the book and series were both enjoyable, and the series was very binge able!

Feel free to share your thoughts on the book in the comments below. Our book club would love to hear your feedback!

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