Ayesha Amin

I oscillated between giving this book 4 stars or 5. It was a compelling read and not an easy write for the author I am sure. Centred around 4 siblings, the author, Chloe Benjamin deals with the concept of knowing one’s future and how different people can deal with that knowledge differently. Clearly written after significant research, she highlights homosexuality in the 80s, AIDS, the fine line between magic and reality, religosity and faith, ageing and its complexities - all the while focusing on very strong but complex characters. I do feel two siblings were given more limelight in the book as compared to the other two, and while the author’s personality development of all characters and their responses to circumstances and life struggles was obvious through the writing, these two characters seemed more rushed in comparison to the other two. All in all, the author has managed to weave a detailed, dark, complicated, seemingly unreal but actually very real portrayal of life, ageing, death, human responses, relationships and family ties. Definitely worth a read and quite appropriate for a book group discussion!