23 April 2015

Review #196: People and Peppers, a Romance by Kelvin Christopher James



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Men are what their mothers made them."

----Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century




Kelvin Christopher James, a Trinidadian-American author, pens his latest novel, called, People and Peppers, a Romance , which centers around a mother-son relationship with the son's lover being at the center of their love-hate relationship, syncing well with the backdrop of Trinidad and a hot pepper farm.






Synopsis:

Gossipy, intimate, and provocative, and set in Trinidad and New York City, "People and Peppers, a Romance" gives a diverting peek into the nuances of a Caribbean island’s callaloo of inter-racial and multicultural social mores. James’s main characters are complex, motivated, and fun to know. Tall and handsome, the main protagonist, Vivion K Pinheiro, is the bastard of a half-Portuguese, half Afro- Haitian woman, and an attractive New Yorker with carrot-colored hair who danced beautifully. Accomplished as well, Vivion has earned national prestige as a scholar and athlete. As a young man trying to realize dreams, he can be selfish yet thoughtful, deceptive yet generous—no real villain, just a callow fella getting over by pulling the tricky strings of privilege and personal charm.
An important factor in his dream actualization is Vivion’s doting, wealthy mother to whom he confessed an ambition to construct an ecologically sensitive, self-sufficient house on countryside property she bought for him. He imagines the finished structure to be surrounded by a pepper farm that grows Moruga Red Scorpion peppers—the hottest on the planet.
A significant stubbing-stone to his ambitions though, is a habit of dodging difficulties—when the goings get tough, Vivion’s gone. How he deals with this failing is only one serving of this fine novel. Of other satisfying portions is the influence of the women in his life. In earlier novels, James’s female characters have been admirable stalwarts and he doesn’t disappoint here. Andaluza, the mother, is an indulgent one. Nikki, the lover, is a strong other. This empathetic novel superbly speaks to women’s compassion and tolerances in the name of love. So let’s live with Vivion as he discovers and submits to the sublime effects of romantic love and father issues.


This story is set in the gorgeous backdrop of Trinidad which is inhabited by interracial people with a myriad of religion and culture interlaced with a mixed race love story. Vivion and Nikki are live-in couples, Vivion is of mixed race whereas Nikki is an Indian Muslim. Vivion is trying to build a ecologically advanced house near the creek in his family pepper farm. Backed by his own influential mother, he travels to America to find an exporter for his best-quality hot peppers. Whereas, all the while, Nikki tries to strengthen the bond between her and with Vivion's powerful mother.

The writing is fine and the narration is layered with the native Trinidadian tone, that sometimes proved to be quite difficult to interpret at times, but once the story starts progressing, I got used to the tone and could decipher them easily. The pace is bit slow since the story moves at a snail's pace with all the back-stories of Vivion's college days and his effort to make it big in America, but the conversations between Nikki and Vivion's mother intrigued me a lot.

Every other characters reflect that Trinidadian flair in their demeanor, which suited me fine, since I always love to explore how people of a specific country tend to behave in their daily lives. So for me, the book was very insightful for me as I got to see into the lives of these Trinidadian people.

Nikki, Vivion and Andaluza are the strong primary characters of this book and their life centers around a pepper farm and empowerment of their livelihood. In short, the story was really very heart-warming and entertaining for me as the author have strikingly portrayed his backdrop onto his canvas.

Verdict: If Trinidad is on your mind then do give it a read!

Courtesy: Thanks to the publisher from Harvard Square Editions, for providing me with a copy of the author's book, in return for an honest review. 
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Author Info:
Trinidadian-American, Kelvin Christopher James holds a B.Sc. from the University of West Indies (St. Augustine campus), and a doctorate in Science Education from Columbia University Teachers College. He lives in Harlem, New York City. Born in Port of Spain, grown up in Arima, Kelvin left formal schooling at an early age. He worked as sole assistant to Dr. Gaston. P. Blair, a researcher of Red Ring disease (which still destroys coconut trees just at bearing age). These two were first to explain basic data such as life cycles and transmission mode of the nematodes (Aphelencus cocophilus) which cause the disease.
Beyond this life of apprentice research scientist, Kelvin enjoyed an adventurous youth, hitched his way around the Caribbean archipelago, found time to be a National athlete. Eventually visiting New York, he decided to stay and mingle. While about dis and dat, he meandered into the craft of fiction, and eventually abandoned his supervisory job at Harlem Hospital to pursue the Writer's life.
In 1989, Kelvin was awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in fiction. Villard Books of Random House published Jumping Ship and Other Stories in 1992, and then Secrets, a novel, in 1993. HarperCollins published A Fling with a Demon Lover in 1996. With new options like iUniverse and Amazon, more recently - 2009 to last month - he has published novels, The Sorcerer's Drum, Web of Freedom, and Mooch, the Meek, as well as short story collections, City lives, a six-pack, and Crazy Loves, a six-pack. (More six-packs will follow in timely order.)
In 1996, he was granted a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in Literature. From 1992 to 1996, and managed through the Board of Education, each year he donated about $3000 to New York City high-schoolers for his eponymous annual writing awards. Bare pockets since 1997, this giveback is presently in abeyance.
Visit him here


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2 comments:

  1. Sounds like you really enjoyed this one! Thanks so much for recommending it to us :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. My pleasure and thanks a lot for stopping by Olivia!

    ReplyDelete

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