Caul Baby book Review

I went into reading Caul Baby with the scenes of Susan Abulhawa’s Against The Loveless World still playing in my mind. I did not know I would be reading two profound books back to back. Typically, I’m not keen on finishing stories that cover heavy subjects so close together but Susan Abulhawa’s beautiful prose and the fluffy book I interspersed it with, made me more receptive to Caul Baby. Thank goodness because Morgan Jerkin went into some disturbing things. To be candid, I did struggle to write this review; I found it hard to organise my thoughts. Before I go into my opinions though, here is a synopsis.

The Review

Since childhood I had heard about babies born with cauls. Back home in Trinidad & Tobago, the main thing I gathered about them was that they gave the children in possession certain supernatural abilities such as being able to see into the spiritual realm. Apart from that, there was mostly mystery surrounding the idea of cauls so I was immediately intrigued when I saw that this book was about a family of caul bearers.

The book is mostly set in Harlem, from the 1990’s to present day but it also touches on previous days in Louisiana. The story is told alternately from the perspectives of different characters focusing on how the Melancon family that originally hails from Louisiana, commands power, inspires fear and provokes resentment as a result of their unique bodies and how they choose to use their physical gift. The Melancon women (the family is all female, which in itself is thought provoking) lives in self imposed isolation from the community. The Melancons are viewed simultaneously as Harlem legends and traitors to their people. As they sell their healing caul to affluent white people who come to them salivating with lust for their bodies, they shun neighbours who are desperate for their help - people who have limited options because of social or financial constraints. The Melancons’ betrayal is all the more distressing in the context of the gentrification sweeping over Harlem and black disenfranchisement in the health care system. Eventually, their valuing wealth over service to their community damns them. It turns what could have been a blessing into a curse. As the Melancons lock themselves away in their brownstone, their actions exacerbate the crises in the neighbourhood and ensure their family’s demise.

Considering the topics I’ve mentioned, you can probably tell by now that Caul Baby is no easy read. Several parts of the story are graphic and triggering such as descriptions of the caul removal process. I had to put down the book numerous times. With that said, Morgan Jerkins storytelling was powerful. Her character development was also good. Even though I never felt close to any of the characters, they were all convincingly complex. There were quite a few villains but they were the best sort of villains, the ones that you loathe but who maintain enough humanity to make at least some aspects of their behaviour relatable. Maman the Melancon matriarch is a prime example of this. She was such a cold, wicked person but the few glimpses into her inner world made me feel the slightest amount of compassion towards her. Still, she has a very toxic relationship with her daughters and grand-daughters so my empathy for her only went so far.

Speaking of toxic mother daughter relationships, this was something that Jerkins depicted well. It is a dynamic that’s generally hard for me to read about especially within the black community. What made it more digestible in this book was that it didn't come off like trauma porn or like the writer was going out of her way to show black mothers and daughters not getting along. Plus, there were ample demonstrations of gentleness and emotional redemption to soften the sharp pieces. Despite the messed up things occurring in these relationships, Jerkins also pointed out paths towards healing.

Something else that I liked about the book was how the physical environments felt like characters themselves, adding layers to what the people were experiencing. As someone with close ties to Harlem, I relished how thoroughly the author depicted life there, from the homes to the streets. It’s a place I know well ( some of my relatives live there and I have spent lots of time in its brownstones and blocks). Even if you have never been there though, this novel will give you a good introduction to this Manhattan neighborhood that holds considerable significance in black American history.

Final Thoughts

One of my disappointments with the story is how minimal Laila’s appearance is. I found myself connecting with her at the beginning of the book and she was the one person that I was really cheering for. Sadly, her character recedes into the background, only to reappear towards the end of the story. Given the cover description, I though she would have had a bigger role. That felt like a tease. I think Laila’s experience was probably used as a catapult for the other events but I would have liked to learn more about her and even to have seen what happened to her husband. Her and her husband experiences opened up the conversation about how infertility affects women’s mental health as well as the dynamics within couples. This was explored to some extent with Josephine and Landon but I think because Laila and Ralph (her husband) were so endearing and appeared to initially have had such a strong relationship, I wanted to read more about their journey.

A more minor criticism is that I thought there was a lot of unnecessary repetition of certain details in the story. There were several instances when I thought “ goodness! you already said that!”

Despite being annoyed by these few things, I found Caul Baby to be a tour de force. I admired the ways in which the supernatural and mystical were woven into modern day conditions. I appreciated reading about a part of black culture that is not spoken about a lot these days and I think the author did a superb job of using the concept of caul bearing to examine issues like the commodification of black bodies, black maternity, fertility and racial loyalty. This novel will be on my mind for a long while.