I read about 75 books a year, most of which are nonfiction. When I do decide to read a novel, I usually try to make sure it’s a really good piece of literature. I gave this book 3/5 stars mainly because I found it pretty hard to follow. Some of this is on me because every so often, usually when the weather is nice as it is now, I read in fits and starts—a few pages with my morning coffee, a few more while my wife has a movie going, and a few more lying in bed before going to sleep. This isn’t the best way to read a complicated plot, one that is challenging to follow as it is. And this is the way I would characterize “Black Cake.” There are many characters, some related, that span more than one generation. Wilkerson shifts timelines often during the telling of the story, and sometimes I just wasn’t paying close enough attention to follow coherently. My guess is readers who read majority fiction and read in fewer sittings than I did for more time with each sitting, probably found the plot easier to follow than I did. So, I guess my point is, my 3/5 star review is my review for my reading experience. Others have rated the book much higher. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. I love how it would switch between characters to give different perspectives.
Byron and Benny are brother and sister, but have been estranged for the past couple of years. They reunited upon their mother's death, where her lawyer tells them of her final wishes. She has recorded her message to them, instructing that they listen to it together. The story she tells, leaves them reeling, wondering who was their mother and who are they. As Eleanor tells her story, the story flashes back to times when she is younger, or others who were important to her tell their story. The story that unfolds shows Eleanor's struggles, her successes and the one common link to her past, her recipe for Black Cake and it's important place in her life. ( )

This is a really intriguing story.. I was hooked very easily. I loved the multiple POVs.

Am I the only one who thinks that maybe the black cake means more than what it is? Anyway I don’t know what it could be but I really want me some black cake. The actual one! ( )

Although the story was thought provoking. The writing was more of "tell" rather than "show". It therefore included mostly stream of consciousness rather than action or dialog.

Also, it felt preachy at times...as it included so many social issues.(including but not limited to racial prejudice, familial estrangement, sexual and racial identity, class struggle, immigrant prejudices, gambling addiction, grief, adoption, murder, colonialism, friendship, domestic abuse, as well food diaspora!) Some were pertinent to the plot while others were not.
This took away from the essential themes: the effects of secrets on families, estrangement, forgiveness. ( )

This is a multigenerational dual timeline story set in present day California and a Caribbean island in the 1960s. The author herself grew up in Jamaica and her parents were born there and this is presumably the context the book is based on, but this is never explicitly stated.

The story begins with estranged siblings Benny and Byron coming together for the reading of their mother Eleanor’s will. They discover she has left them a traditional black cake and an 8 hour audio recording about her life.

The story then takes us back to the 1960s when a young Coventina Lyncook (Covey) is growing up on a Caribbean island with her Chinese father, mourning the loss of her islander mother, who left when his drinking and gambling became too much. Covey throws her energy into ocean swimming and her secret romance with Gibbs. She feels happy despite the challenges, until her father decides to improve his fortunes by marrying her off to a powerful, older man. When a death on the island leaves Covey under suspicion of murder, her world comes crashing down around her.

What follows is a story about secrets, relationships, and the connections created by cooking. The sweetness of the black cake recipe from the islands permeates the book, and creates an atmosphere of its own.

For me personally I found a few things irritating. Firstly as I am currently doing a read around the world challenge, I find it annoying that the author cannot even name the island Covey and Gibb came from, rather it is glossed over in an amorphous stroke as the Caribbean. Maybe this is meant to convey the impression that many islands in the Caribbean suffered a similar colonial history, but by not giving the island its own distinct history and culture this feels like another broad stroke of colonialism, putting different people groups together in one amorphous category without any effort to see their uniqueness.

My other problem was with Byron. I found him to be just a walking issue advertisement with no personality or function in the story other than as a billboard for any subject the author wanted to address. There is also that tendency of debut authors to need to cover all the issues in one book. If you cut Byron out of the story it actually would make very little narrative difference, and in fact Bunny the swimmer was a more appealing vehicle to bring attention to the state of our oceans. His sister Bunny at least has some personality and has an important role in the book with her story of rejection and heartache, even though she often comes across as immature, petulant and selfish.

Overall I enjoyed this book, in particular for its island setting, smell of cooking and unraveling of secrets. 3.5 stars for me. ( )