He Burns By The River by Khalia Moreau, author of The Princess of Thornwood, reviewed in my November 2024’s post, takes readers to Trinidad in this novel. Set in the 1960’s, a period just after the island’s independence, this historical fiction deals with the occult, colorism and racism, modernity vs tradition, as it explores the rivalry between two brothers.
The two brothers are Roran and Danny. As boys growing up, they both have to deal with the impact of their differences in complexion – Roran is dark, Danny is fair-skinned. Two brothers, same mother and father, but one is favored over the other in society, in their village community and in the family. It makes younger Roran wonder about his self-worth, if he is loved less than his older brother. This difference between the brothers breeds resentment of Roran towards his older brother.
Moreau pairs this subject of resentment with the island’s cultural belief of obeah, dark magic, that keeps people mindful of their ancestors, bad omens, the jealousy/envy of others and the good or harm that may come because of it. Questions come to surface when the seemingly healthy Danny falls into a strange waking stupor, during a foot race, wearing shoes just returned from a rival, another boy from their school, named Kenneth.
Now, only Roran and Danny know that instead of Roran lending his shoes to this boy, it was Danny’s. Roran does not reveal this information to his family out of guilt or perhaps something else, but when pressed for the truth, he keeps silent. Their grandmother suspects Roran is holding back and also, the practice of obeah by this boy from their school.
It takes the loss of his grandmother and the failure of the village priest to help his brother, for Roran to realize that Danny’s illness or troubles started when he put on those shoes, obeah may be at work, and the key to fight for his brother’s life is with this boy, Kenneth. But confronting Kenneth isn’t as easy as it seems and leads to more unforeseen consequences for Roran and his family. Roran must put aside his jealousy and come to terms with his guilt to help his brother – I believe this was the core obstacle for Roran taking the steps to help his brother.
We may all debate, agree, disagree, questioning whether obeah exists, but the subject of colorism among us certainly does. It exists within families and their communities. It is engrained within society, not just in the Carribean, but around the world. I just heard the other day a neighbor of mine using the term ‘light-skinned badness’, referring to Alicia Keys – so disturbing and unfortunate. This passes on from generation to generation. Moreau deals with what binds people together as a community and what keeps them apart.
Moreau also notes that the obeah idea of the story actually comes from an incident within her family history. So, please read the author’s note at the end for details. That’s why it’s always best to read a book cover to cover. The novel was a fast paced, interesting, sometimes scary read, mixing descriptive everyday village life with battling dark forces and the people behind them. It was really a treat to read a period piece that takes place in Trinidad. Reading about so many familiar things was a nice change. This was a great story of the island’s cultural superstitions and a boy’s battle to save his brother, while being haunted by his own insecurities. He Burns By the River by Khalia Moreau – great read!