Island Song set on St Lucia – Pepsi Demacque-Crockett
Island Song – Pepsi Demacque-Crockett
Set between the Caribbean to 1950s London, this is a novel about finding home. A story about two sisters. One who found the courage to leave, the other who must find the courage to live.
The author has drawn on the experiences of her family to write this moving story. Add to that she is Pepsi from Pepsi and Shirley fame!
Map of locations in Island Song
BOARDING PASS INFORMATION
Destination : St Lucia and London
Author guide: Pepsi Demacque-Crockett
Genre: Inspired by real life
Food and drink to accompany: Imagine!!
#Bookreview
@thebooktrailer
A novel to transport you to St Lucia and London
Island Song
Map of locations in Island Song
To spend any amount of time on a Caribbean island is a given but when it’s evoked so well on the page as St Lucia is here, then it’s a real treat indeed. The paradise island however does not reflect a paradise set story but its beauty makes the horrors and pain that this book shows, even harder to bear.
If you think back to the Windrush headlines in the papers over the last year or so, then this story will tug on quite a few heartstrings. People who move during wartime or via periods of large groups of migrants leaving one country for another have a lot. Leaving home must be hard. Leaving a paradise island for a cold, wartime London must have been, well, unimaginable. There’s the customs, language/accent, just getting used to the day to day. Not to mention all of that after a long and choppy journey by sea.
Agnes leaves her sister Ella and takes her two children to London. Well, that broke me from the start. Already there’s separation and fear, the sense of home and a family being torn apart. She has to find work, keep her family together. Wow, what a lady.
There are lots of layers to this novel – faith and the role of church in society are strong themes. When racism creeps in, my heart was in my stomach. I began to admire Agnes strength and courage even more at this point. Talk about making lemonade from lemons.
I found this was an eye opener for me as wow, did people really go through this? Somehow this novel felt very real, more real than a news story. I don’t know if its because I knew the author has woven it from her family history or just that the writing really resonated and hit hard.
As we learn about Agnes, we learn more about Ella who has stayed on the island. Oh the contrast between the two stories, islands and sisters was powerful reading!
With the added painful read about the effects of alcoholism on a family, this novel felt gut-wrenchingly raw. But wow – I might now need to not read for a few days to let this sink in even more. Quite mesmerising and insightful in so many ways.
Pepsi, it would have been an honour to have met the family members who even inspired this a tiny fraction.
Loved it!
Map of locations in Island Song
Postcard details: Access The BookTrail’s Map of Locations and travel guide here
More books set on islands
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Island Song
Twitter: @pepsidemacquec
