The Cursed Village

There was much of this book that I enjoyed. The setting was Trinidad in the 1940's and 1950's and it was interesting to hear some of the traditions and practises of the time. The novel tells the story of a young boy Usati who recounts the story of growing up in a small village. At times I wondered is this book autobiographical and how does this relate to real life? At times it was a difficult read, with violence against children and women. I did however have to read it to the end and see how things worked out. The book covers many different life events and raises a lot of points to discuss. I could imagine this would be a good book to share in a book group.

Big props to the artist of the book cover, it is timelessly beautiful and something every reader would love to show off on their shelves. This book was definitely unlike anything I have ever read before, I thoroughly enjoyed every page and despite finding it hard at times, i flew through it.

This book hit me hard. The Cursed Village is a book about Usati and when we first meet him he is but a child, and he explains the life he lives as a very poor child on a sugarcane farm. Throughout the book we stick with Usati as he grows older and experiences the death of his mother. He is sent with his siblings to his grandparents house where he is raised. The Cursed Village is a coming of age story as much as it is a story of fighting for a better life. Usati wants a good education above all else, but he's fighting against prejudice and illiteracy while also battling himself and learning how to deal with his trauma. This wasn't a happy story through most of this book, and though I felt like there were several unresolved elements at the end of the book, I felt hopeful. And I guess that's generally the way life is anyway, we all always have one thing or another unresolved.

A very interesting novel depicting the culture, customs as well as dialect that existed during the 1940's in Trinidad. The author provides a clear cut comparison of struggles experienced by children during this era to those of present day. Readers are able to join in with the main character as he focuses on the importance of education and how he strives to achieve higher learning in order to leave behind the everyday difficulties of rural life. I highly recommend this book to those interested in a mixture of history, romance and intrigue.

I have read this book and it interesting . It keep my interest and I could not put it down. It was a booked that related to my life a great deal. I have learn a lot from it . It has educated me in life how we can overcome a lot of difficulty and still servile it if we have a motive behind it. He is a great writer and a heart warming . It give a lot of motive and encourage us to look to achieve great thing in life . We have to put our mind toward an goal at the end of it . To the writer I applause him for the courage and determination. He is very ambitious.