Black Cake is beautiful and complex story and quite an accomplishment for a debut novel. I really liked the glimpse into mingled cultures. The Chinese/Jamaican heritage was one I never considered.
I especially liked the friendship between the girls and how their devotion to each other endured over decades, through separation, and even after death.
The storyline is intriguing, but as the narrative switched back and forth between characters and time, the flow was interupted. I had to re-focus to recall who was who and did what. Chapters written in each character’s point of view, does give the reader a chance to know each character more intimately. Yet, secrets and hinted-at events left me feeling I didn’t get the full depth of the character after all.
There are so many story details swinging around in the wind, the author does an admirable job of trying to tie them all together. Maybe she didn’t have to be so meticulous. The pace in the first three-quarters of the book was better than the last quarter. All the answers were eventually given, but the story ran on a bit too long.
I will recommend this book to friends, because searching for identity and the importance of family are worthwhile topics for discussion.
Jeanne Meeks ~ Fiction Author 