• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2019 February #1
  *Starred Review* Adam's first novel is a moving study of her native Trinidad centered around the Deyalsingh family: hardworking and determined father Clyde, ferociously protective if slightly wistful mother Joy, and their twin sons, Peter and Paul. Divided into three parts, the novel begins with 13-year-old Paul's disappearance after an argument with his father and moves backward, creating a vivid, affectionate portrait of both the island and the family. The second section focuses on the boys, who have been distinguished since early childhood by what others perceive as a noticeable disparity in intelligence. Peter is the smart one. Paul, who has been labeled slightly retarded, is anxious and likely dyslexic and lives in the shadow of his loving brother and under the unvoiced threat of being sent to an institution by his exasperated father. Adam's writing is luxuriant, evoking the atmospheric island setting and the complicated, worried lives lived under a near-constant sense of impending violence. Family squabbles over money turn menacing in part three, as Clyde faces a series of terrible decisions that spool out like a crime thriller. Heartbreaking and lovely, this is an important work by a promising new voice. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Claire Adam was born and raised in Trinidad. She lives in London.