But I Smile Anyway…

I was sent this fantastic book to read and review. A debut by Sophia Jai, set in Canada with roots in Trinidad. Fascinating reading!

WILD FIRES is an astonishingly assured debut that moves between Trinidad and Toronto in a lyrical portrayal of a family undone by grief, regret and long-buried secrets. On a personal level, I love the vulnerability of Jai’s writing. She captures the relationships between sisters, aunts and daughters, all trapped in the ‘swollen silence’ of the big house on Florence Street, with a startingly vivid and distinctive voice. It’s perfect for fans of Ingrid Persaud.

Wild Fires by Sophie Jai
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
This debut novel by Sophie Jai is an interesting insight into the Indo Trini community, and more so about the dynamics within quite a dysfunctional family.
Cassandra heads back to Toronto, Canada where her family settled, after leaving Trinidad, after hearing of her cousin’s death.
But it’s not just a straightforward trip, because she isn’t just there to mourn and attend a funeral. Cassandra knows the family has many secrets, and the women in the family live in ways that are alien to most others. Her own mother is one of five sisters, and they all live under the same roof, apart from one who stayed on in Trinidad with her husband, and another who passed away under tragic circumstances. Also, there are Cassandra’s older and younger sisters.
The story took me a little while to get into, as there is a lot of to-ing and frow-ing from past to the present, with the POV appearing to change, but each trip back adds another layer to the story. There are many secrets hidden within the family, and we still do not learn everything by the end of the story, but Jai’s beautiful prose keeps you hooked.

About the Author

WILD FIRES is Sophie Jai’s debut novel. She was selected as a 2020 Writer-in-Residence and Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford for WILD FIRES, and was longlisted for the 2019 Bridport Prize Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award for a First Novel. Jai was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. She splits her time between Toronto and London.