In the Falling Snow (Vintage)
Yes, If you are a Caryl Phillips fan read this.
Otherwise, don't bother.
I have appreciated Phillip's novels, especially "Higher Ground" and "A Distant Shore". So I was pleased to see his latest novel, "In the Falling Snow" available in the Kindle edition.
The book has its moments, especially toward the end. But it's heavy going to get there, and had I not read Phillips' other novels, I would have given up on "In the Falling Snow" around page 50.
The novel seems to go nowhere. At times I thought it was perhaps three novels, half formed and badly combined into one disjointed piece. It is SORT of about Keith — born in the 1960s to immigrant West Indian parents, Keith's father Earl, and Keith's step mother Brenda. Keith's ex wife, Annabelle, and Earl's ex wife, Brenda, have minor roles.
But what's it all about? I finished the book but am none the wiser. I don't want to spoil the end, so will not go into how the novel disappointedly ends. Suffice it to say, just as the novel picks up with the dying Earl's account of his last days in the West Indies and his first days in England, the novel comes to an unfinished finish.
Still for those who enjoy Phillips' writing, it is worth buying, if only for the brief glimpses into what surely must be Phillip's early life. Or that of his father's. We will probably never know.