![]() ![]() Maybe that's just Jamaica, where everyone, in a sense, is of mixed race Pao himself certainly views all its inhabitants as immigrants and therefore all equal as citizens. But characterisation is a strength, also, and while Pao is multi-layered, enigmatic, confused and wise all in one, so the myriad folk who cross his path are fully fleshed out, complex yet credible. Her skills are many - she is, foremost, a talented narrator, and the story alone of boy-becomes-gangster-with-a-conscience-in-exotic-locale would be enough to recommend the novel. ![]() This she does through Pao, in mesmerising fashion. And with her mother being Chinese-African, she is uniquely placed to offer the viewpoint and commentary on Jamaica's turbulent history. Kerry Young's father, a Chinese who "operated within Kingston's shadow economy", is a clear template for Pao. "Life is complicated" would be an even more apposite truth for Pao, and this grand story takes us through 50 or so years of his complicated life and drops us off at the end of the trip with a head full of stuff, which will untangle slowly long after the last line. "Life is hard" is one of the Noble Truths and Yang Pao, as a young boy landing on the streets of Jamaica in the 1930s, learns that lesson quickly. ![]()
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