Three women. Three secrets. One family torn apart.
When 24-year-old Kareela discovers she's pregnant with a child she isn't sure she wants, it amplifies her struggle to understand her place in the world as a person who is half-Black, half-white, and yet feels neither.Her mother, Evelyn, fled to Canada with her husband and their first-born child during the politically charged Jamaican Exodus in the 80s, only to realize they'd come to a place where Black men are viewed with suspicion.
Years later, in the aftermath of her son's murder by the police, Evelyn's mother-in-law, Violet, moves in, offering young Kareela a link to the Jamaican heritage she had never fully known.
In the present day, Kareela, prompted by fear and uncertainty about the new life she carries, must come to terms with the mysteries surrounding her family's past and the need to make sense of both her identity and her future.
There’s only a few things in this life I’m sure about - everyone looks cute with a nose piercing, ebooks count as “real books” and Charlene Carr without fail will make me feel things with every single book.
Rip The World Apart is a powerful, striking story that spans generations and timelines, weaving together these women’s lives and creating such an affecting, strong sense of connection that hits you in the chest. It’s a story about the crazy ways life can change in just a moment, and carries important conversations about how identity, heritage, race and prejudice can influence the path we’re on.
As we switch between timelines, the pace continues easily and flows naturally from one to another - each narrator has their own distinct voice but the beautiful, careful storytelling remains throughout. Each generation of women offer a look at how life for women, especially women of colour has changed over the years, and the heartbreaking things that haven’t changed. Carr speaks out about speaking out - about the continued fights against systems made to make women and people of colour fail and does it with such grace and authenticity that makes her so iconic.
And of course, as it’s Ms Carr I fell deeply in love with every single character and felt every single line.
- We Rip The World Apart is available from 14th March with Headline/Mountain Leopard Publishing. I was gifted a reviewers copy of this title in return for a review.
- This title contains subjects that may be upsetting including violence, racial violence and murder.
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