DE RIGHTEST PLACE

BARBARA JENKINS

Characters: 3.5 stars / Plot: 3.5 stars / Writing: 3 stars / Overall: 3.7 stars

Indira Gabriel, recently abandoned by her lover, Solomon, embarks on a project to reinvigorate a dilapidated bar into something special. In this warm, funny, sexy, and bittersweet novel, Barbara Jenkins draws together a richly-drawn cast of characters, like a Trinidadian Cheers.

Meet Bostic, Solomon’s boyhood friend, who is determined to keep the bar as a shrine; I Cynthia, the tale-telling Belmont maco ; KarlLee, the painter with a very complicated love-life; fatherless Jah-Son; and Fritzie, single mum and Indira’s loyal right-hand woman. At the book’s centre is the unforgettable Indira, with her ebullience and sadness, her sharpness and honesty, obsession with the daily horoscope and addiction to increasingly absurd self-help books.

In this warm, funny, sexy, and bittersweet novel, Barbara Jenkins hears, like Sam Selvon, the melancholy behind “the kiff-kiff laughter”, as darkness from Indira’s past threatens her drive to make a new beginning.

I absolutely love books based in the Caribbean especially the ones based in Trinidad, where I call home. There is a particular comfort seeing myself and people around me through the characters. De Rightest Place by Barbara Jenkins was no exception. The plot revolves around seven characters with the main location, a bar in Belmont, Trinidad called the De Rightest Place. They each walk their own journey in an attempt to find their place in the world. Each facing a varied struggles along the way.

Overall it was a fun read that paid homage to the idiosyncrasies of Trinidadian culture. The characters were relatable, the plot had some holes but was still strong enough to stand on its own. The writing could have been a little more consistent with the use of Trini vernacular. In that aspect, I found that only one character stuck with Trini lingo throughout the book, the others were punctuated with the Queen's English. Still I would recommend De Rightest Place as a warm, fun but bittersweet must read!

Favourite Quotes

“ “What’s painful for him is that nobody seems to notice or care”

”...gasping like he get tumble and jumble by a Maracas wave waiting for the basklash to drag him, straighten him out...”