Bibliophile in the Desert is our book review column. Local reader, writer, and #ThisIsTucson Book Club moderator, Genevieve Dahl, shares book recommendations and novel reviews that include the most appropriate Southwest locale to indulge in this month’s reading pleasure.
This column takes me all over Southern Arizona in search of book nooks, people-watching places and reading corners. For the first time, I selected my very own Pima County backyard as the setting to read this month’s featured novel, “Black Cake.”
As the months shift from January to February, we see the holiday lights come down and welcome crystal seekers to our desert town. We step outside never knowing what we’re going to get weather-wise. Will the air have a cold bite, or will our skin be kissed by the sun? Something about that air of mystery has me feeling a little less restless and a bit more content with staying home. Perhaps I’ve just given up on fighting cabin fever. Either way, I support reading your copy of “Black Cake” in your own little outdoor space, be that a balcony patio deck or an acre of desert (or in my case, a turf-covered dog habitat).
Genevieve Dahl chose to read "Black Cake" in her backyard, a turf-covered dog habitat.
But if you’d like to step out of your own backyard and delve into another homey reading spot, you might find comfort at The Boxyard on Fourth Avenue, a sunny spot at the MSA Annex or your favorite local park.
“Black Cake” is Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel, a fact I find hard to digest because it reads like a soon-to-be literary classic penned by a bestselling author. Wilkerson, a former journalist, has lived in Jamaica and Italy, and her short fiction work has been published in several anthologies.
This might be one of the toughest reviews I have ever written, only because this story is layered and complex. I dare not want to give — or take anything away — in sharing a synopsis of this riveting family mystery that takes readers to the Caribbean, London, Canada and California to find the true story of Eleanor Bennett and her sacred black cake recipe.
Eleanor has died when we meet her, leaving behind a voice recording for her surviving adult children, Byron and Benny. When the sibling pair meets their mother’s lawyer to go over her estate, the tension in the room is as thick as the grief. Benny, formally Benedetta, the strong-willed, younger and seemingly flightier of the two, has not seen her family in years. Once a tight-knit bunch, a falling out caused Benny to miss her father’s funeral and the last few years of her mother’s life.
Byron, with a successful career and a track record of being there for his parents, is bitter, which is understandable when you get to know his varying circumstances. He is angry with Benny and can’t fathom why his mother would begin her message by asking the two of them to share a black cake she has left behind, buried deep in her freezer.
Black cake is no ordinary dessert — it is an island tradition. This one in particular is made with carefully aged fruit and rum, a family recipe Eleanor carried with her across the world. She instructs her son and daughter to eat the cake when the time is right. A moment, she promises, they will inherently recognize when it arrives.
Looking for an outdoor space, other than your backyard, to read a good book? Check out The Boxyard or the MSA Annex.
As Benny and Byron listen to their late mother’s voice reveal her life story, sacred memories and a stack of secrets, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew her at all. This gripping novel effortlessly weaves in and out of the present and times passed, shifting points of views at just the right moment.
Eleanor’s message is long and heavy, taken in by her children over the span of several days. Her son and daughter come to know their mom as a champion swimmer, an abandoned child a few times over, a young woman in love, a survivor, a murder suspect, a bearer of great loss and one heck of a secret keeper. When they (and we readers) finally learn the entirety of Eleanor’s life story, one thing remains true: every part of her was their mother.
Let me tell you, this book had my mouth dropping open in a say what gape several times over. It broke my heart, and then quickly redeemed my faith in love, friendship, family and humanity. I turned the last page and found myself reflecting on my own version of secrets, the person my children know as a mom versus the person I am wholly. I have a feeling most parents have survived more than their kids will ever realize, as is the human experience and the beauty of survival and growth.
As a reader, we pinpoint the perfect black cake moment a few pages ahead of the siblings and, by then, we’ve realized everything it represents to the family. When Eleanor’s children get there, it makes for a beautiful scene and an absolutely stunning way to wrap up a story.
It is no surprise that Hulu and Oprah have signed on to adapt “Black Cake” into a series — one I look forward to watching while I continue to urge everyone to read the book first.
“Black Cake” contains several triggers concerning abuse, family trauma, sexual assault and adoption.
The novel “Black Cake” will be officially released on Feb. 1. The copy I read was obtained through an online pre-release book subscription.
#ThisIsTucson encourages readers to shop local — every bookstore in Tucson is happy to special order.
Looking to dive deeper? Join the #ThisIsTucson book club group on Facebook.
