A Tall History of Sugar

Starred review from June 17, 2019
In her immersive modern fairy tale, Forbes (A Permanent Freedom) unspools an unlikely love story as well as a haunting, hypnotic piece of postcolonial Jamaican history. A strange newborn baby is found in a basket in 1958 and adopted. Ghostly pale and fragile, with hair that is part blond, part black, Moshe Fisher is deemed an outsider by his peers until, on his first day of elementary school, he meets Arrienne Christie, a slightly older girl who shares his intellectual aptitude and aversion to speech. Arrienne is also the novel’s narrator, interjecting and opining with verve as she and Moshe come of age—she a burgeoning political mind, he a talented visual artist. Their slow-burning love story is tested when Moshe’s desire to learn more about his biological father takes him to Britain. Arrienne’s recount moves in hopscotch fashion, but it’s driven forward by her enchanting voice, to which Forbes brings an electric lyricism. Her dialogue beautifully captures the lilt and variety of Jamaican patois: “If yu lef outa dis house tonight, don’t come back, stay by yu fadda.” Forbes’s ambitious, fantastic tale will appeal to fans of multigenerational sagas
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It is difficult to imagine that this extraordinary story could be even better, but Robin Miles's sublime narration accomplishes that feat. In 1958, just before Jamaica's independence, a childless couple adopts an abandoned infant and names him Moshe. His pale skin, mismatched- colored eyes, and hair brand him as unusual in his community, and his racial definition mirrors Jamaica's quest for a postcolonial identity. Moshe's affection for his childhood friend, Arrienne, is poignantly depicted. Miles skillfully conveys the story's poetic language and folktale atmosphere, which remain firmly grounded in historical detail. Her rendering of the Jamaican-Creole patois and the Queen's English are a pleasure to hear. Fans of Caribbean literature will sink into this transporting wonder of an audiobook. M.J. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine