Literary Fiction — The Book Roads

How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House

Cherie Jones

On the sun-drenched shores of Baxter’s Beach, Barbados, paradise hides a darker reality of poverty, domestic violence, and generational trauma. Lala, a young woman raised on her grandmother’s cautionary tales, finds herself trapped in an abusive marriage to Adan, a charming but violent petty criminal. When a botched burglary leads to a shocking act of violence, Lala’s life becomes entangled with that of Mira Whalen, a wealthy visitor whose husband is murdered during the same fateful night. As their stories converge, the lives of several characters reveal the devastating consequences of choices made under desperation, fear, and social inequality. Through the intersecting experiences of women struggling to survive in a society shaped by class divisions and patriarchal power, Cherie Jones examines the cycles of violence passed from one generation to the next. Haunting and unflinching, the novel challenges the idyllic image of Caribbean paradise, exposing the lives and sacrifices hidden beneath its beautiful surface.

Barbados 2021