Loved the premise. First part of the book was great. But was starting to get too long as we went deeper into Eleanor's life. I could nit wait for the book to end.hence the 3 stars.

What a wonderful intergenerational story about where we come from and the traditions that tether us to home! I loved the way Wilkerson sketched her characters, but wish we got more from Bunny after she left the island.

I kinda fought with people in my book club about this… quick read at least!

I cannot believe this was the author's debut novel. I really appreciated the intricacy and the storytelling here. Loved the repeating themes of tradition, loyalty, and perseverance. Took a way a star because it was really was a just a bit unrealistic. It had a lot going on for it to be resolved so nicely.

Phew, I don’t even know where to start with this one. It’s complicated, and at times confusing. But wow, a beautiful story of identity, family, love, race and womanhood. I felt immersed into Caribbean culture and learned a LOT through this novel.

A traditional Caribbean black cake is an unlikely inheritance. When their mother dies, two adult estranged siblings are left with this symbolic cake and a recording that their mother has asked them to listen to together.

This engrossing family saga spans the 1960s Caribbean to Great Britain to present-day Southern California, revealing a woman's life experiences that her children never knew about. Covey had a special gift for swimming and surfing. Tall and powerfully built, she mastered the ocean, but could not handle her own father's choices causing her to flee the island on the day of her husband's murder.

Covey reinvents herself several times at great cost. She has a long life and ultimately a good life, but now her children, Benny and Byron, must deal with their issues with one another and their parents. This character-driven story slowly unfolds as it reveals issues of sexuality, violence, birth, education struggles, challenges in the pursuit of excellence, racial profiling, effects of different shades of brown skin color, and a host of struggles that are mostly unique to African Americans.

This masterful storyteller explores universal issues of identity and how the lives we live and the choices we make leave a trail of consequences that can pass down through generations.

Watch for the movie.