Shortlisted for the @womensprize for Fiction 2022
Alethea, the protagonist of Lisa Allen-Agostini's novel “The Bread the Devil Knead”, gives another important viewpoint. She's a Trinidadian woman who manages a clothing boutique in Port of Spain. She's about to turn forty & she has lived with Leo for over five years. He's a former locally-famous musician who has come to regularly beat Alethea and controls her to the point where she has little social contact outside of work.
This book was incredible. I was quite reluctant to read it after the TW on the plot synopsis as this is out of my comfort zone but I'm glad i tested this. The novel reveals society's relationship with this form of abuse & how women take the responsibility for it. We are taken through Alethea's childhood, flipping back to the present.
It was written in Trinidad Cerole dialect so the characters speech taking me some time to read. In order to appreciate the context of the book, you move past this & realise it's a really charming but moving book. Althea was smart, independent & motivating trapped in a domineering abusive relationship. I liked the relationship Althea had with Colin. There was an element of hope.The bread cameI to learn was communion bread. Allie means truth so I think he brings these good features out of her slowly as we are left with a new chapter for our heroine.
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