Thursday, March 22, 2018

Review: The House of Rougeaux

House of Rougeaux

The House of Rougeaux
Jenny Jaeckel


The House of Rougeaux follows the descendants of two children who are left motherless on a sugar plantation on the Caribbean island of Martinique in 1785 up until the mid-1960's. I loved the first section of this book which follows Abeje, who eventually becomes a healer and her brother Adunbi.

I immediately felt something for these two characters. The hardships and unfortunate circumstances of there lives pulled at my heart. The author had a wonderful ability to transport me to the Caribbean and the reality of their everyday lives. But, I didn't understand why the story jumped from the 1800's to descendants living in the 1950's in the United States and Canada. I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if it had been chronological in order or even if it had omitted the second and third chapter. I was also not a big fan of extremely long chapters often followed by a very short one. It made the story seem unbalanced to me. I liked the ending of the book which followed one descendant Eleanor, who returned to Martinique to find out more about her ancestors, Abeje and Adunbi. I think the author has a gift and talent for creating beautiful prose and being able to draw a reader into the characters. But, I was disappointed with the structure chosen for the work.

Thanks to Library Thing for allowing me to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

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