Red Island House Book Review

It feels like ages since I’ve done a book post, let alone a book review. Even though I read a lot last year and was on a roll with my book blogging for a while, somewhere around the middle of 2021 my momentum came to a screeching halt. One of the books that I enjoyed but never got around to discussing here was Red Island House by Andrea Lee. In case you haven’t heard about it or you’re searching for a title to add to your reading list, let me suggest this book. Continue scrolling for my full review of Red Island House.

Introduction

“There are houses that you don’t want, that, nevertheless, enter your life and bring with them other lives, whole other worlds. There are countries you visit that lay hold of you and don’t let go, even if you diligently attempt to remain a tourist. These thoughts have been incubating in the mind of Shay Senna ever since she - a Black American woman with scant interest in the continent of Africa except as a near-mythical motherland - unexpectedly and unwillingly became mistress of the Red House, a sprawling household in northwestern Madagascar.”

That is the first paragraph of Red Island House and it pulled me in immediately. The cover piqued my curiosity but the first paragraph fully seized my attention. As a Black woman who loves to travel and feels deeply connected to Africa, the premise attracted me. I had never read a novel about Madagascar and I have long dreamt of visiting the island that blends East African and Southeast Asian heritage. The first paragraph also made it clear that the author was going to waste no time in delving into the story. Andrea Lee’s style is exactly the type of writing I relish: descriptive but not excessively so and moves along at a pace that holds my interest.

The Characters

Apart from the setting, the characters are what make this book captivating. Let’s start with the two main (and my two favourite characters): Shay and Bertine. Shay is a brilliant, well educated, worldly African American woman. Over the years she spends in Madagascar, Shay is compelled to confront the privilege she carries in Madagascar as an American expat and a woman married to a wealthy European man. One of the things that stood out to me about Shay was that despite how bright and assertive she is, she has a degree of self doubt when it comes to speaking up to men. To be fair, I think some of this was due to external factors - namely the spiritual elements at play in the Red House - but I wondered if Shay is partially uncomfortable about speaking her truth and acting on her intuition with men due to being afraid of being labelled “the angry black woman”. Nonetheless, there are instances when Shay finds her voice and the courage to take a stance. Unfortunately, there are several things that unfold with which Shay is unhappy but that she ignores or painfully abides. Although this annoyed me as a reader, I thought it was realistic. Many of us can probably attest to putting up with situations that we know are messed up for far longer than it’s healthy to remain in them.

Something else that struck me was how Shay seems to feel conflicted about her commitment to her husband versus her loyalty to the Malagasy people. This conflict of interest affects how things unfolds for Shay with the island community and her husband.

As I mentioned before, my other favourite character was Bertine. Although Shay is the woman of the Red House, it is Bertine to whom Shay must turn for advice and strength. The Malagasy woman is strong in that way many black matriarchs are: self assured, wise and in tune with their natural environment and the spiritual realm. In some ways, Bertine becomes a mother figure to Shay. She helps to guide Shay and keep her grounded but as much as she is unafraid to be candid with her, Bertine never forces her opinion upon Shay. She simply shares her insight and leaves Shay to decide for herself. In her quietly confident way, Bertine helps Shay understand and connect with Madagascar in addition to managing the Red House.

However, as significant as Bertine is to Shay, she has her own life. Shay even acknowledges at least once that she is guilty of not considering this enough. Even though the author revealed a little about Bertine, I would have liked to learn more about her and her life outside of the Red House.

Bertine’s character made me ponder the significance of elders and matriarchs, specifically, in African cultures throughout the diaspora.

There are other striking characters in this book from the repugnant, lecherous European men to the enterprising, vivacious Malagasy people. I’ll avoid listing them here but I’ll just say that there is a fair share of figures I loathed and liked. I think that Andrea Lee did a superb job with character development.

Summary

I read this book when I was in the throes of wanderlust last year and it helped soothe my yearning for travel but not in a lighthearted, vacation novel way. As a Caribbean person, I appreciated that while the story is set in a gorgeous place, it sheds light on the complex histories, cultures and systems that exist in island nations like Madagascar. It also shows how foreigners, Europeans particularly, often view such places as exotic backdrops against which, to play out fantasies; viewing people from those places as inferior beings who exist primarily to serve their whims. This exoticizing tends to ignore tourism’s role in exploitation and overlook how land-ownership among foreigners is invariably an extension of colonialism, reinforcing wealth disparities. Although the author of Red Island House is not Malagasy and her writing can’t truly reflect a Malagasy perspective, I valued her perspective as a person of African descent. Another salient issue that Red Island House raises is the dichotomy or clashing identities that can exist in interracial marriages. I could go into this more thoroughly but this review is already long so I’ll share one related takeaway: someone marrying a black person does not mean that the person does not have racist tendencies.

As thought provoking as Red Island House is, I found it easy to follow. The author laid out the details so clearly, depicted the characters so vividly and paced the plot so well that I was immersed in the story from beginning to end. I had the sensation that I love when reading a novel: forgetting that the world I’m seeing is fictional. I can’t wait to read another book by Andrea Lee.

One thing I was not crazy about with this book was the ending. Based on the events leading up, it was plausible, but I would have been more satisfied with another outcome. It’s not that I wanted the ending to be wrapped in a tidy, decisive bow. I just didn't like how Shay was placed in the position of being the bigger person. I wanted her to make a more dramatic and dare I say, selfish statement and that did not happen. Despite my minor disappointment with the conclusion, I can’t recommend Red Island House enough. Go ahead and read it or share your thoughts in the comment section further down if you have read it already.