Wow, where to begin? Like many people, I was caught by the title of the debut novel by Cherie Jones: How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House. (The title comes from a parable told to a little girl by her grandmother.) I had heard great things about this book, and it is definitely well written, with strong pacing and good character development, featuring two strong female characters and one totally awful man who all live in a small beach town on the island of Barbados in the 1980s

TBH, I never could bear the idea of going on a Caribbean vacation. Over the years, friends and family have shared terrific photos showing off their adventures at a variety of islands,  featuring incredible natural beauty and deluxe accommodations. Along with the luxury tourist accommodations, many of the vacation spots seem to share another characteristic: incredible poverty just outside the boundaries of the resorts. I always thought the local people must really hate the (comparatively) rich tourists who exploit their homeland, while at the same time I realize they are likely grateful for the income from the tourist dollars. Anyway, the story features Lala, the little girl who ignores her grandmother’s cautionary tale and ends up pregnant at a young age and married to a man named Adan, a seriously bad guy. Lala and Adan are two of the main characters, along with Mira, another young woman whose chosen path out of the wrenching poverty on the island is marriage to a rich white man. When Lala is about to give birth, Adan is nowhere around, as he is out on “a job,” and shortly after the baby is born, the island is buzzing with the news of the murder of a rich white man (uh-oh).  

Lala gets by working braiding hair for tourists on the beach, and her life is surely a struggle. She keeps trying to be the wife and mother she thinks she SHOULD be, but there are two issues: she married a terrible man, and her past keeps coming back to haunt her. 

The book is suffused with poverty and crime (including murder, sexual abuse, and prostitution). Although it’s not a particularly difficult read, I had a real reaction to the story, and don’t really think I can say I “enjoyed” it (although it is very well written). I admit the pandemic of the past year has had a negative effect on my ability to maintain a positive attitude, and possibly if I read this book at another time, my reaction would have been different — but as my brother is fond of saying, “it is what it is.” I am stumped as to how many stars to give it. Incredible effort, and the fact that it affected me so much reinforces the fact that Cherie Jones can WRITE. But it is dark, and I am someone who battles negativity so it is only three stars from me. I know some people who will LOVE it, and I will recommend it to others, but it just wasn’t for me. Thanks to Little, Brown & Co and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for this honest review.