Such a beautiful & moving tale. I became Charmaine Wilkerson’s fan for life ever since I read Black Cake. And I am so glad she carries forward the legacy of her debut novel with Deluge.
This is the story of a little girl, Dinara, who was taken by a woman – saving her life from a flood that took away her entire birth family. This woman, whom she calls ‘ma’ is the one who raises her and dotes on her. As Dinara gets older, she starts recalling vague incidents and things from the past.
As she ultimately discovers the reality after ma’s death, her heart is torn between conflicting emotions – between her birth mother & her ma. She holds ma responsible for stealing her from her mother. And her stepdad accomplice by not telling her the truth any earlier.
I simply am in love with Charmaine’s beautiful prose. It is artistic. The writing feels so much full of love & emotion. Few words from her, simple writing – but it has so much depth and makes so much sense. I couldn’t help re-reading so many beautiful passages of this book. It hits you and touches you deep within. In 30 odd pages, this book feels so much more complete and satisfying than probably a full blown novel.
Dinara’s conflicting state is wonderfully brought out. The anger vs love. The resentment vs attachment. The resentment vs longing. On one hand she is full of anger towards her Steppie for his silence. So much so she has him imprisoned. On the other hand, she still cannot hate him or her ma. They were all she had. This feeling of conflict is so natural and real – what we experience so many times in our lives.
On her stepdad’s part, he stayed silent only out of love. The book’s underlying message is – it is the intent that matters. As the author says, people do wrong things for right reasons. But as much as Dinara loves her ma & Steppie, she will need time to accept & forgive completely.
I might have wanted to see Dina forgive her stepdad and hug him tight for she knows the reality now – as told by him. Infact, she doesn’t even know what her fate would have been had her ma not picked her that fateful day. She had every reason to be grateful. But maybe that would have been a convenient end and probably Wilkerson chose a more true human side.
Conclusion
A short story, beautifully written and saying a lot. This is one of my favorite reads of the year and I feel everyone should read this. Find it here: Deluge