Impressive.Mootoo has an impeccable ear.authentic and powerful.Ī novel for both brain and heart: at once wise and smouldering.Ī writer with a generous spirit and a gift for storytelling. Mootoo can be counted as one of our most gifted writers. gives us a view of Trinidad we have not had before.

Mootoo's talent for writing vivid and redolent landscapes is one of the hallmarks of her work.An intricately woven and thoughtfully constructed book.Ī readable family saga. Mootoo's sense of narrative pacing verges on genius. What's most striking.is her elucidation of the tragic ways in which stereotypes of race, gender and sexuality ensnare the young. The landscape serves as a metaphor for sexuality: the dangerous jungle of unleashed desires vie with the manicured lawns of nature suppressed.Readers can look to this book as a tropical respite from a bitter winter's chill. Heavy with smells, rich with flavours and throbbing with music, it is a feast for the senses. shimmers with passion with the heat of desires denied. What make's Mootoo's book worth reading is how she takes a simple plot and brings it to life through her deft characterisation and an ever-present sense of urgency. This is a writer who knows how to satisfy the reader.NNNN The family at the center of the story includes Valmiki, a doctor, his wife, Devika, and their two daughters, Viveka (of which the title refers) and her younger. She takes no easy routes with the narrative. Mootoo's prose is vivid, poetic and passionate. Shani Mootoo elevates her material through deft characterization, an ever-building sense of urgency, and her obvious love for an island landscape. Valmiki's Daughter weaves together vingettes that are seemingly borrowed from life itself. Mootoo's description of sexual awakening is one of the most poignant I've run across. An in-depth exploration of willful miscommunication and suppressed desire.A wise and skillful guide to their dark, complicated world.a stand-out novel that offers a nuanced look at families that fail to nurture

Valmiki's Daughter by Shani Mootoo