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New Moon's Arms
  
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New Moon's Arms (Paperback)

by Nalo Hopkinson (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

When an abandoned toddler appears on the shore of her Caribbean island home, Chastity Theresa Lambkin, aka "Calamity," becomes a foster mother in her 50s. Years previously, a one time, teenage experiment with a best friend unsure of his sexuality resulted in daughter Ifeoma. As Calamity, who narrates, now freely admits, Ifeoma bore the brunt of Calamity's immaturity, and their relationship still suffers for it. As Calamity relates all of this, things that have been missing for years inexplicably reappear, including an entire cashew tree orchard from Calamity's childhood that shows up in her backyard overnight. It could be island magic, or something much more prosaic. The rescued little boy's origins do have some genuinely magical elements (Calamity names him "Agway" after his foreign-sounding laughter), and Hopkinson's take on "sea people" and how they came to be adds depth and enchantment. Agway's presence, however, ratchets up the tension between Calamity and Ifeoma (who has a lovely son of her own, Stanley). Calamity proves emotionally adroit and winningly frank in a variety of situations (the men in her life have a preponderance of issues), and Hopkinson (The Salt Roads) gives her story a sassy, loving touch. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From AudioFile

Gin Hammond's portrayal of Calamity Lambkin, a salty, irreverent Caribbean woman, is pitch-perfect. Life for Calamity has never been easy, and with the death of her father and the onset of menopause, her life becomes crazier than ever. As hot flashes surge, Calamity's childhood ability to find lost items returns. Long-forgotten toys fall from the sky. Her father's old cashew orchard appears in her front yard. And most surprising of all, a seaweed-encrusted and seemingly orphaned child washes up on Calamity's beach. Is Caribbean magic at work? Hammond delivers this enchanting story without a flaw. Her voice, with its soothing low pitch and rhythm, captures island accents and makes listening a pleasure. D.J.P. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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5.0 out of 5 stars "I thought it would be like riding a bicycle", Feb 22 2008
By Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The New Moon's Arms (Hardcover)
This is a fascinating book that you'll want to read in one sitting. A combination of fantasy, mystery, drama, humor and relationships, the author draws you in from the first chapter, as she recounts an embarrassing incident at a funeral. After all, who can stop reading a book that includes in its opening paragraphs a line like "Mrs. Winter had given up the attempt to discreetly pull her bloomers back up"?

Bloomers aside, by the time I reached page two, I realized from the language that not only was the setting in the Caribbean, but that most of the colloquial expressions were Guyanese. A background check revealed that Ms. Hopkinson was born in Jamaica, but that her famous father was a Guyanese poet, playwright and actor, and that she had once lived in Guyana with her family. A-ha! Case closed!

Set on the fictional islands of Dolorosse, Cayaba and Blessée to a lesser extent, the main character is a reluctant grandmother (in her early fifties) who has a hissy fit when her daughter calls her a matriarch or reveals any hints about her advancing age. Given the name "Chastity" at birth, she insists on being called "Calamity", and as a child had the ability to find lost things.

Several things happen in the story that bring about major changes in her life -

1. Her mother disappears without a trace
2. She gets pregnant at fifteen after an experimental encounter with a close friend
3. She has a close encounter of the strange kind with a girl of the sea. (As in Chicken of the Sea)
4. Her father passes away
5. Menopause
6. The return of the ability to find lost things.

Not one to let these things hold her back, Calamity continues to live her carefree dysfunctional life, barely making ends meet, when into her life come not one, but two younger men, and then to complicate matters further, in washes a young boy with the tide.

There's much more to tell in this fast-paced book, but I'll let you discover the twists and turns on your own. Suffice to say, it involves colorful language, myths and legends, the supernatural, alternative lifestyles, relationships, politics, extinct mammals and yes, the droopy bloomers.

One of the best books I've read in a while.



Amanda Richards
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