I started the 2023 Read the World challenge here on Storygraph, requiring me to read books set or written in 10 different areas of the world. One of the areas (Trinidad and Tobago) was a complete mystery to me, and I figured I'd end up reading a romance novel set in a beach resort just to "check it off" the list. Instead, skimming their list of suggested titles, Brother by David Chariandy caught my attention and I gave it a shot. If nothing else comes of this challenge, I am thankful this challenge brought me to this book!
From the first page the language of this book is captivating, quickly transitioning the experience from "just another book" to "a powerful work of literature." So many poignant moments of literary perfection.

The story is a simple one on paper - ten years after the death of his older brother, Francis, main character Michael, invites a girl from his past, Aisha, to stay with him while she grieves her father's death. Aisha's presence pushes Michael both physically and emotionally to confront the loss of his brother.

There is so much more in this 200 pages, though -- this is a story of identity, of family, of courage, of grief, of brutality and recovery. It deals with crucial modern issues like the interaction of black men and the police and the view of gay men in the black community with a featherlight touch and brutal honesty. A plot structure that could be easily seen as an attempt to play on headlines is instead gut wrenchingly honest in its presentation of the unexpectedness, the unexplanable nature, and the unacceptableness of the actions included. Francis' character in absentia remains the most powerful force - his family and friends pulled to his gravity even years after his death. The highest compliment I can give a book is to say I want to write about it...and this one I do. I want to write and write and write...this book has so much to explore.

Honestly, though, I feel insignificant just trying to review this book - it's so beautiful and so powerful it should be the top of every reading list.

wow. this is one of those books that punch you in the gut and you feel that hurt forever.

a story set in Scarborough about a first-gen Caribbean family that touches on being Black in Canada, and the ongoing grief that follows. 

chariandy sets up the book slowly, using beautiful descriptions of Scarborough that change and adapt to the events happening at the time of the description, and makes the inanimate come to life. 
the timeline going forward and back and forward again is pretty unorthodox, and was a bit confusing to keep track of which events happened when, but are vital to the storytelling. this novel's delivery almost mimics the memory flow of, you guessed it, a human being.

the book focuses on heavy themes of grief, police brutality, racism, and the migrant experience in Canada living in a poverty-stricken area, but also turns readers' attention to the Black music culture, and heavily emphasizes the beauty and importance of music. the mentions of Black artists like Nina Simone, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Etta James contrasts the looming theme of racism in the book, and instead focuses on Black Excellence, especially in Michael and Francis' situation where their mother pushed "Your one and only chance," to climb higher (socially) and make it big in the world as a Black person in a White society. 

this book gripped my little first-gen Canadian, child of an immigrant heart and didn't let go. i'm hesitating to give a full five stars due to one detail: chariandy using the homophobic f slur in his writing, and not as a reclamation. david chariandy is a cishet man, and has no right to use this slur, not even as another character speaking. he rightfully reclaimed the n slur in this book, but as a cishet man, had no right to use the homophobic f slur, no exceptions.

all in all, this book made me feel too much and made me want to cry one too many times. i highly recommend, and leave you with this: