A MILLION AUNTIES

A chorus of voices from the Jamaican diaspora tries to define the meaning of community.

As a New York City–based artist, Chris can’t shake the burden of his father’s expectations. Their relationship becomes increasingly strained after the death of Chris’ wife, Lidia. Looking for a fresh start, Chris travels to Jamaica, his mother’s homeland. Chris’ agent, Stephen, who also has roots in that country, has set him up at his Auntie Della’s home. For a few days, Chris is at peace, learning to draw flowers, creating art, tucking into Auntie Della’s delicious meals, and being fawned over by the locals. But upon learning that his father is severely ill, Chris has to rush back to the U.S. Separate threads detail Stephen’s own visit to Jamaica when Miss Pretty, another “auntie,” who has had a difficult life, begins to view Stephen as her own son. In yet another plotline, Chris’ father, who grew up in the South, narrates the story of his marriage to Eileen, who's Jamaican. Miss Vera, another auntie, talks about her daily life in Jamaica, reminiscing about her daughter who immigrated to Miami. These various characters drop in and out of the narrative, their reasons for doing so barely apparent. McKenzie tries to create a vibrant community of people who are tied together by love for their motherland, but the characters are so paper-thin, their motivations so cloudy, that the entire story begins to turn to mush. At first blush it appears that the mystery behind Lidia’s sudden death might serve to anchor the novel, but that arc too eventually disappears into thin air.

A drive-by snapshot of characters’ lives.