The Ladies are Upstairs

by Merle Collins

Rating: 5 (1 vote)

Tags: Female author

The Ladies are Upstairs

Description:
From the 1930s through the dawning of a new century, these tender and moving stories underscore living life with style and hidden steel despite one’s circumstances and warn against disregarding the past struggles of others. Doux Thibaut negotiates a hard life on the Caribbean island of Paz, confronting the shame of poverty and illegitimacy, the hazards of sectarianism on an island segregated into Catholics and Protestants, and the injustices of racism and classism. As an old lady moving between the homes of her children in Boston and New York, Doux wonders whether they and her grandchildren really appreciate what her engagement with life has taught her. In The Ladies Are Upstairs, Merle Collins has created a mosaic novel from these stories of a Caribbean woman’s life, demanding that such lives not be forgotten.

Reviews:

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(1 year ago)
15 Apr, 2025
La obra, diferenciada en dos partes, está ambientada en la ficticia isla de Paz, tal vez un sucedáneo de la isla de Granada, en el Caribe, de donde proviene la autora. Los personajes hablan en un inglés macarrónico, entiendo que respetando el habla local; pero se puede entender. La segunda parte consiste en diez cuentos que giran en torno a Doux, desde que es una pequeña escolar hasta una edad muy avanzada. En los diversos cuentos la autora muestra toda su sensibilidad, capacidad de observación e inteligencia, conformando un conjunto magnífico que va creciendo hasta el final. Y la primera parte, el cuento largo Rain Darling, es la historia, muy triste, de una niñez con carencia de afecto, y un exceso de decepciones. Una verdadera obra de arte. Un libro maravilloso.

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Country: Netherlands flag Netherlands
Language: EN
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