Brother
A Novel
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4.0 • 140 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, Toronto Book Award, and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
Longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize
Named a Best Book of the Year by Globe and Mail, National Post, Guardian, Esquire, New York Public Library, NOW Magazine, Chatelaine, CBC, Quill & Quire, Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette, Kirkus Reviews, and more
A Canada Reads Finalist
A Penguin Book Club Pick
Now an acclaimed film directed by Clement Virgo and starring Lamar Johnson, and Aaron Pierre
Winner of the 2017 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, David Chariandy's Brother is his intensely beautiful, searingly powerful, and tightly constructed second novel, exploring questions of masculinity, family, race, and identity as they are played out in a Scarborough housing complex during the sweltering heat and simmering violence of the summer of 1991.
With shimmering prose and mesmerizing precision, David Chariandy takes us inside the lives of Michael and Francis. They are the sons of Trinidadian immigrants, their father has disappeared and their mother works double, sometimes triple shifts so her boys might fulfill the elusive promise of their adopted home.
Coming of age in The Park, a cluster of town houses and leaning concrete towers in the disparaged outskirts of a sprawling city, Michael and Francis battle against the careless prejudices and low expectations that confront them as young men of black and brown ancestry--teachers stream them into general classes; shopkeepers see them only as thieves; and strangers quicken their pace when the brothers are behind them. Always Michael and Francis escape into the cool air of the Rouge Valley, a scar of green wilderness that cuts through their neighbourhood, where they are free to imagine better lives for themselves.
Propelled by the pulsing beats and styles of hip hop, Francis, the older of the two brothers, dreams of a future in music. Michael's dreams are of Aisha, the smartest girl in their high school whose own eyes are firmly set on a life elsewhere. But the bright hopes of all three are violently, irrevocably thwarted by a tragic shooting, and the police crackdown and suffocating suspicion that follow.
With devastating emotional force David Chariandy, a unique and exciting voice in Canadian literature, crafts a heartbreaking and timely story about the profound love that exists between brothers and the senseless loss of lives cut short with the shot of a gun.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Gangs, hip-hop, and grief—these words define the world of the Park, the housing project where Michael and Francis are growing up on the outskirts of Toronto. Set between the early ’90s and the present day, David Chariandy’s novel touches on contemporary conversations like those about masculinity, immigration, and police violence. Few writers can do what Chariandy does so well: bring to life totally believable, underrepresented urban characters whose experiences open our eyes to realities we might not otherwise see. Brother will pull you into the Park, and you’ll be better for it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chariandy's powerful and incendiary second novel (following Soucouyant) probes the ramifications of police violence on marginalized communities and delivers a nuanced portrait of a family struggling to stay afloat as circumstances stack against them. Set during the summer of 1991 in the Park, a suburban Toronto housing complex, the narrative tracks the coming of age of two mixed-heritage brothers as they cling to and ultimately test the patience of their hardworking Trinidadian single mother, "one of those black mothers unwilling to either seek or accept help from others." During the boys' teen years, sensitive Michael fumbles through his first real relationship with Aisha, a girl from the block and "the sort of girl the world considers 'an example' or 'the exception,' " while his streetwise and volatile older brother, Francis, becomes obsessed with the city's burgeoning hip-hop scene. Unfortunately, Francis's passion for music doesn't quell his problem with authority, and a run-in with the police at a local hangout turns violent, with devastating consequences. Told from Michael's perspective, the novel presents a grim reality gang shootings, entrenched racism and fear, lack of opportunity, and loss. But instead of relying on stale stereotypes, Chariandy imbues his resilient characters and their stories with strength, dignity, and hope. This is an impressive novel written by an author in total command of his story.
Customer Reviews
Loved this book!
I really loved this book. It is quite short but the writer did an excellent job at present the story of Micheal who lost his bother Francis . The story is of a 1st generation immigrants from Trinidad which showcase the hardships of immigrants to integrate into the Canadian society with many barriers of systemic racism. It showed how the children of these immigrants develop survival skills into their neighborhoods which are not the safest. What I like the most about the book is the loving relationship between brothers. How they protect each other and show how to navigate society as a Black man. I totally get why they make this book into a movie. You feel the grief in this book with Francis’ mom and Micheal the main character. You also feel how difficult it is for people like them to breakthrough and follow their dreams when there is so many barriers stack around them. This book will stay with me for a long time. I feel for Francis, his mom and Micheal. I’ve known many people like them in my own Haitian community. I can’t wait to see the movie now.
Brother
This novelette by David Chariandy was neither enlightening, enriching or engaging. It seemed kind of like a high school English students effort at an expose of a day in the life of a down and out family. I would not recommend it, there is not really much to be taken away from reading it.