Two thumbs way up for Popisho by Leone Ross. Magical realism.
In Popisho – a vibrant archipelago in which everyone has a single magical gift – Xavier Redchoose will use his gift to cook a perfect meal for each resident, once in their life. The governor’s daughter is getting married, and the governor is pressuring Xavier to cook the wedding feast – jumping the line, so to speak. And, yes, this book is partly about food, and corruption, yes, but it’s also about community, grief, addiction, sensuality, love lost, and, in the end, love found. The story eases you in, introducing the main characters in glorious style that bears a warm nod to the author’s upbringing in Jamaica. Then, because it’s magical realism, weird things happen (I think I said “WTF!” out loud when reading at midnight). What an astoundingly good book this is. I just spent three days and almost 500 pages in Popisho, and I’d read another 500 pages in an instant. If you like magical realism, I beg you to try this book.
‘Anyway,’ said Romanza. ‘I think that song is a good start to a day.’ He coughed and spat into the sand. ‘You can think of anything worse going happen to you today than a man on the radio sing-say your dicky don’t work? Betterment must come.’
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