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Category Archives: Reviews – Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus

Book Review: Under the Tamarind Tree–A Novel — my quest blog

18 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Reviews - Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus

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Book Review by Henry Lewis

In her novel Under the Tamarind Tree, Guyanese-born author Rosaliene Bacchus has spun a fascinating tale of family feuding, personal loss and a longing for love and self-acceptance, all set against the backdrop of crumbling Colonial power in British Guiana during the two-decade period […]

Book Review: Under the Tamarind Tree–A Novel — my quest blog

Henry Lewis is an American blogger who writes from his home in Colombia, South America, where he has settled after years of working in countries like China, Thailand, Iraq, and Oman.

My thanks go out to Henry for this unexpected and wonderful review of my debut novel.

Epiphanies from Under The Tamarind Tree by Rosaliene Bacchus

27 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Reviews - Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus

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American Author JoAnne Macco

More praise for Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel from JoAnne Macco, retired therapist and author of Trust the Timing: A Memoir of Finding Love Again.

JoAnne blogs at “Anything is Possible!”

Anything is Possible!

front-cover-under-the-tamarind-tree

At first I didn’t think I had much in common with Richard Cheong, the main character in Under the Tamarind Tree.  His story is set  in the country of Guiana during the 1950s and 60s during a time of political and personal danger which I have never experienced.  Richard’s father was Chinese and his mother was from India. His dream is to have a big chicken farm. The father of three girls, he is obsessed with longing for a son.

Stepping into a different culture, even through reading a novel, is often uncomfortable at first. Reading this book helped me grow in humility and understanding.  As I read, I grew to like Richard and to care very much about him and his family.

I realized that there are important things that transcend culture. Richard and I do have things in common. His little brother was killed at the age…

View original post 205 more words

The Writer’s Life: Getting Feedback for Work in Progress

23 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Reviews - Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus, The Writer's Life

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American Author Dan McNay, Beyond Baroque/Venice/California, Fiction Workshop/Los Angeles/California, U.S. Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), Work in progress, Writers' Critique Group

 

I’ve been blessed in being part of a supportive writers’ critique group comprised of accomplished writers. Over the past five years, we’ve met once a month at a local restaurant. Our numbers have fluctuated between four to six writers with work in progress. But things don’t always work out the way we would like them to. Life happens. We have other pressing needs besides our writing.

With our active members now down to two of us, we’ve begun frequenting the Monday Night Fiction Workshop held at Beyond Baroque, a Literary | Arts Center in Venice, Los Angeles County. As I struggle with the first draft of my current writing project, I’ve found the fresh voices stimulating and motivating to keep pressing forward.

Instead of a third novel, to be set in Brazil, as planned, I’ve decided to explore the theme of the woman as a social construct. The minority male elite–not forgetting the women who support them–who control our global capitalist economic system are leading the human species, along with non-human species, towards extinction. Women play a vital role in maintaining the profitability of this system. If we are to reverse course, the role of women in society urgently needs to be re-examined. Continue reading →

Catching up…

08 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Reviews - Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus

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American bilingual writer Rebecca Cuningham, Praise for Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel

 

I’m finally catching up after a year-end, ten-day break. No TV. No Internet.  My son, an independent contractor, decided that the December holiday season was the best time for him to tackle the flooring of our rental apartment that was in critical need of repair and renovation.

What a jolt to return to the drums of war with Iran! I missed sharing my year-end reflections, now rendered meaningless in the face of such reckless decision-making. In this New Year 2020, I wish that saner minds will prevail across our nation and worldwide.

During my absence from WordPress, I missed the following praise for Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel, posted on my blog on December 28, 2019, by American bilingual writer Rebecca Cuningham, blogging at Fake Flamenco:

Characters extremely compelling.

Rosaliene, I’ve read your novel! I learned so much about Guyana; history, culture, language, food, and the ethnic backgrounds of the country. I felt I was learning deep culture from an expert and that my time reading was a journey. The characters were extremely compelling. The years leading up to independence from Britain are so momentous and full of tension. What a surprise ending and it also seemed right. Thank you for the education and the well crafted story.

Read more PRAISE FOR UNDER THE TAMARIND TREE: A NOVEL at my writer’s website, rosalienebacchus.com.


Dear Reader, my debut novel, Under the Tamarind Tree, is available at Rosaliene’s Store on Lulu.com and other book retailers at Amazon, BAM! Book-A-Million, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository, and Indie Bound.
Learn more about Under the Tamarind Tree at Rosaliene’s writer’s website.

Under the Tamarind Tree: Book Review by Robert A. Vella

13 Wednesday Nov 2019

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Reviews - Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus

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Book Review: Under the Tamarind Tree, SciFi Author Robert A Vella, The Secular Jurist

 

A gripping page-turner that will tug hard on your heartstrings


Robert A. Vella, science fiction author of The Martian Patriarch (2012), has posted a review of my novel, Under the Tamarind Tree, on his blog, The Secular Jurist.

Under the Tamarind Tree by Rosaliene Bacchus is a fictional story centered on a young man in British Guyana from 1950 to the nation’s independence in the late 1960s.  The two-decade long tale of his life is highlighted with haunting memories of his childhood, captivating family intrigue exquisitely unwound by the author, and touching marital troubles all told within the context of a culturally diverse country torn by political and ethnic strife.  It’s a gripping page-turner that will tug hard on your heartstrings.

The story moves along briskly from scene to scene and is delightfully filled with tactile samplings of Guyanese culture particularly its lifestyles, cuisine, and colloquial speech.  Reading it brought the activities, tastes, sounds, and even the climate and geography of the country vividly to my mind.  It was almost like being there.  This quality of the novel cannot be understated and it is the most essential component of the story.

Continue reading at The Secular Jurist WordPress blog

 


Dear Reader, my debut novel, Under the Tamarind Tree, is available at Rosaliene’s Store on Lulu.com and other book retailers at Amazon, BAM! Book-A-Million, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository, and Indie Bound.

Learn more about Under the Tamarind Tree at Rosaliene’s writer’s website.

Under the Tamarind Tree – a Review by Trev Sue-A-Quan

05 Thursday Sep 2019

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Reviews - Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus

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Book Review by Trev Sue-A-Quan, Chinese in Guyana: Their Roots, Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus

Under the Tamarind Tree is a story of outsider influences. Richard Cheong, the main character, finds himself influenced by attitudes and events beyond his control. There is an outside child in the family – a boy whose very existence causes a divide between family members. Some are filled with resentment that this male child could be receiving financial benefits and privileges that are traditionally retained within a nuclear family. The animosity among some siblings leads to actions of a life-threatening nature. Richard himself perpetuates some of the conflicts by tenuously holding on to the glorious tradition of fathering a son of his own. With this objective entrenched in his mind, his wife Gloria gives birth to a fourth child but he dies at childbirth and this results in considerable friction within his family.

Through their ancestries, Richard and Gloria carry the customs and religious beliefs from five of the six peoples that constitute the country of Guyana. These diverse tenets lead to decisions by individuals that are difficult for even their closest loved ones to accept. A child’s wish to change religion brings intolerance from parents. The mother bearing an out-of-wedlock child is rejected by her family, while the sacredness of marriage is questioned when a partner feels that true love for an outsider overrules the stigma of adultery.

Adding to the contradictions among family members, the Cheongs find themselves caught in a greater conflict arising from the political changes leading to the country’s independence from Britain. The leaders of the political parties rally support based on racial and economic interests. Their influences result in some serious racial clashes between the people of African and East Indian heritage, representing the vast majority of the population. Even friends and family members of the Cheongs are instigators or perpetrators of violence, as well as being victims. Although standing as outsiders, Britain, as the presiding colonial power, and the United States, as the regional superpower, bring pressure to influence the direction that an independent Guyana would take, with determination that it should not become a country with a communist ideology.

Through these multiple influences, Richard and Gloria Cheong are challenged by both their individual set of values and the unfolding events that affect their family and business affairs. Under the Tamarind Tree weaves an intricate account of human interactions based on a personal, family-based, religious and national themes and is one with a uniquely Guyanese flavor.

 

Trev Sue-A-Quan was born in Georgetown, Guyana and attended Queen’s College. In 1969 he gained his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, England. Besides his engineering career he has researched historical events related to Chinese immigration to Guyana. Based on his findings he has written three books describing the history of the Chinese Guyanese, covering their initial arrival as indentured laborers in the mid-19th century, their adaptation as residents in the new land and the experiences of their descendants as migrants to other countries. Trev now resides in Vancouver, Canada.
Learn More: Chinese in Guyana: Their Roots

 


Dear Reader, my debut novel, Under the Tamarind Tree, is now available at Rosaliene’s Store on Lulu.com and other book retailers at Amazon, BAM! Book-A-Million, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository, and Indie Bound.
Learn more about Under the Tamarind Tree at Rosaliene’s writer’s website.

Quote

Book Review: Under The Tamarind Tree by Rosaliene Bacchus — Ken Puddicombe -Writer

04 Sunday Aug 2019

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Reviews - Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus

≈ 76 Comments

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Book Review, Caribbean Fiction, Guyanese-Canadian Artist Joan Bryan-Muss, Guyanese-Canadian Author Ken Puddicombe, Multicultural Fiction, Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus

 

Great news! I’ve received the first review of my debut novel, Under the Tamarind Tree, soon to be released. The reviewer, Guyana-born Ken Puddicombe, is the author of three historical novels Racing With the Rain (2012), Junta (2014), and Down Independence Boulevard & Other Stories (2017). He lives in Toronto, Canada, where he owns and runs a small press.

Do check out his review.

COVER ART BY GUYANESE-CANADIAN ARTIST JOAN BRYAN-MUSS

 

UNDER THE TAMARIND TREE Copyright 2019 By Rosaliene Bacchus 284 pgs Published by Lulu Press, Inc. USA Review by Ken Puddicombe The fruit of the Tamarind Tree holds a puzzling allure to people in the tropics, its tangy and acidic fruit devoured obsessively, even as it stimulates the taste buds with spasms of unpleasantness […]

via Book Review: Under The Tamarind Tree by Rosaliene Bacchus — Ken Puddicombe -Writer

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