How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House: A GMA Book Club Pick
by Cherie Jones
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In the tradition of Zadie Smith and Marlon James, a brilliant Caribbean writer delivers a powerful story about four people each desperate to escape their legacy of violence in a so-called "paradise."
In Baxter's Beach, Barbados, Lala's grandmother Wilma tells the story of the one-armed sister. It's a cautionary tale, about what happens to girls who disobey their mothers and go into the Baxter's Tunnels. When she's grown, Lala lives on the beach with her husband, Adan, a petty criminal with endless charisma whose thwarted burglary of one of the beach mansions sets off a chain of events with terrible consequences. A gunshot no one was meant to witness. A new mother whose baby is found lifeless on the beach. A woman torn between two worlds and incapacitated by grief. And two men driven into the Tunnels by desperation and greed who attempt a crime that will risk their freedom - and their lives.
How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House is an intimate and visceral portrayal of interconnected lives, across race and class, in a rapidly changing resort town, told by an astonishing new author of literary fiction.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9780316536998
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Cherie Jones
- Publisher
- Little, Brown Paperbacks
- Published Date
- October 12, 2021
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 288
- Physical Info
- 8.3 in L x 5.57 in W (0.49 lb)

Such amazing storytelling! As a person of Bajan descent, it was nice to read something from my culture. I loved how all the POVs came together to weave the story.
This book pulls on your emotions. You will have a love hate relationship with characters.I full joyed it.
Out-Zadies Zadie!One of the best books Iβve read this year, written in the islands accent, like musicThis author is bound for prizes and best sellers and kudos to her for her first fiction. I was transfixed.
Richly developed characters and beautiful witing, the story is intricately woven. I am excited to read more from Ms. Jones.
This book is about Lala a young woman who finds herself in an abusive marriage with a man caught up in theft, murder, and other crime. Her husband commits a crime they must keep secret and they also face the death of their small newborn baby that they also try to cover up. This book is about her life, the investigation of a murder, of the babyβs fake kidnapping and murder and of her love with her childhood friend. We also get glimpses into the life of the wife of the murdered man. I thought the book was original and interesting and shines a light on race, class and circumstance and how it impacts society in Barbados.
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