Love After Love

Reviews

"Named after one of the Caribbean's most famous poems, Love After Love is a perfect storm of a book, written in the wake of the groundbreaking Jason Jones LGBT win in 2018. If you want to understand the cultural complexities of a contemporary Caribbean island life, read this novel. Persaud deftly weaves together harsh realities of an island state still struggling with a brutal past. But while this book is dark, it’s funny too; it crackles with the language and wordplay that is the everyday picong spoken on the island. This is a formidable debut by an emerging writer who understands her subject, the island of Trinidad, with all its contrariness, a place where it is still, for some, a hard place to openly love another.”—Monique Roffey, award-winning author of Archipelago and The White Woman on the Green Bicycle

“Restless, heartbreaking, and intensely spellbinding, Love After Love will stay with you long after the last page.”—André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your Name
 
“Love After Love is gift after gift. An unforgettable symphony of love and loss, heartache and guilt, and the secrets and lies that pull us together, and tear us apart. Dazzlingly told in the most electrifying prose you will read all year.”—Marlon James, Booker Prize–winning author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf
 
“Persaud’s auspicious debut traces the gut-wrenching lives of a makeshift Trinidadian family over the past two decades. . . . In chapters alternately narrated by Solo, Betty, and Chetan in vibrant Trinidadian dialect, Persaud expertly maps the trio’s emotional development and builds a complicated yet seamless plot full of indelible insights and poignant moments. This affecting family saga shines brightly.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An engrossing and unsparing exploration of love in various forms, love in all its passion, its beauty, and its brutality. The fully realized characters will take up permanent residence in readers’ heads and hearts. Persaud’s talent and courage will undoubtedly lead us into many worlds in years to come.”—Neil Bissoondath, author of Digging Up the Mountains

“This book teems with real, Trinidadian life: neighbors so nosy they know your business before it happens; descriptions of food that'll have you googling recipes; feting and liming and plenty of sex. There's darkness here, too—violence, loneliness, moments of despair—and how Ingrid Persaud weaves all these elements together in one book, with so much warmth and humor and love for her characters, is a wonder.”—Claire Adam, award-winning author of Golden Child
 
“Love After Love is funny, REALLY funny. It made me ugly cry and put me right in Trinidad. A story of second chances and third chances, love and secrets. But, the main thing for me were the voices of Betty, Mr. Chetan, and Solo—brilliant characterisation. This will be big!”—Jessie Burton, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Miniaturist and The Confession
 
“Written in luscious prose, this book brings to life the sights, sounds, flavors, and characters of Trinidad. . . . Ingrid Persaud will crack open your heart with the compassion and warmth she pours into her characters. A must read.”—Read It Forward

“Beautifully written . . . This affecting novel tells the story of an unconventional family. . . . The skilled treatment of the characters brings them to vivid life, as it does the richly realized Trinidadian setting. An award-winning short story writer, Persaud demonstrates her skill with longer fiction in this superb debut novel.”—Booklist (starred review) Expand reviews