Current Read: When the Tamarind Tree Blooms by Elaine Russel

[Tiffany Dowell]

I will tell you this, the description of this book when you read it on the select a book page does NOT do it justice. What a beautifully written work of art (so far).

[Tiffany Dowell]

As an adoptee, who also placed a child for adoption, the writing is absolutely accurate in the portrayal of Vivi's inner world. Trauma, grief, hope, loss, and "loss of self" -- I don't quite know how to describe this any other way -- is felt by orphans, fosters, and adoptees alike, and no, not the way that it's portrayed to or understood by the rest of the world. Elaine Russel gets it. She sees it. I suspect she knows it personally.

This is an excerpt from my (not finished yet) review of When the Tamarind Tree Blooms by Elaine Russel. I know that we are not to make assumptions about an author's gender in our reviews if we don't know. I am stating that I suspect that the author has personal knowledge of that inner world, because, for example, if someone loses a child to sickness for example, if they then write about a parent losing a child to sickness, it's going to be A LOT different than someone who has never been through that personally writing it would be. People who have experience with something can often tell when someone else knows "a different kind of way".

Is this acceptable to include in the review, since it highlights the author's ability to more deeply connect to readers who identify with her character, but also might make it more "heavy" for some of those same readers? I think some readers will go "this book understands me", and some will feel it gets too close.

[Tiffany Dowell]

So, I just finished this. Oh, my, goodness, one of the best reads ever.