'Love After Love' review: Sparkling debut set in the Caribbean

Ingrid Persaud's debut novel, "Love After Love," builds on the wistful melancholia of the eponymous poem by the Caribbean titan of letters, Derek Walcott.

Persaud's book is a memorable, moving account of wounded people who come together to create an alternative family, a refuge where they can heal. The novel's protagonist, Betty Ramdin, survives a harrowing marriage, including physical and emotional abuse, only to pursue, with varying success, the love of two men —her only son, Solo, and Mr. Chetan, a gay man who struggles within the strictures of Trinidad and Tobago, where social mores constrict his pursuit of a satisfying private life.

"Love After Love" will be a pleasurable read for anyone who has tried and failed in love, marriage, friendship and parenting. This novel reminds readers of why we go to books in search of answers to life's great questions, among them how to demand more of our lovers and ourselves, how to guide the children in our lives and how to grieve our losses and our mistakes. We could all stand to follow Betty's advice to Mr. Chetan to follow a romantic lead: "Do it while your teeth are in your mouth and not in a glass by the sink."

Persaud's novel delves briefly into the cracks in the American Dream. Solo, who tries and fails in New York City, overstays his visa and then decides to return home. His disappointing experience is common and evokes timely debates around immigration to the United States and who "belongs" here. It also disrupts a trope that presents immigrating to America as a golden opportunity for which people should sacrifice everything (their families and dignity included).

While it's refreshing to see Persaud tackle both domestic violence and taboos around homosexuality in Trinidad, the story line of Mr. Chetan felt clunky and tipped toward tragedy. Still, Persaud makes a thoughtful effort to address a pressing social issue and to present a complex character with empathy and care.

"Love After Love" is a critical contribution to a watershed moment in Caribbean literature — the long overdue correction to the marginalization of Indo-Caribbean women's lives and history.

Persaud, like many Caribbean and female writers for whom practical considerations like earning a living and family have trumped creative work, is publishing her debut novel later in life, after pursuing a career in law. Her biography recalls that of the late, legendary Toni Morrison, who published her debut novel well into her 30s. Here's hoping "Love After Love" will be the first of many works by Persaud that examine women's lives, and any other subjects she chooses to tackle with her deft facility with language and her keen understanding of the human condition.