Author: Andrea Lee
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Literary
Publisher: Scribner Books (Simon & Schuster)
Date published: March 23, 2021
A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
But the Red Island House casts a spell from the moment she sees it, and before she knows it Shay has become the somewhat reluctant mistress of a sprawling household, caught between her privileged American upbringing and education, and her connection to the continent of her ancestors.
At first, she’s content to be an observer of the passionate affairs and fierce ambitions and rivalries around her. But as she and her husband raise children and establish their own rituals on the island, Shay finds herself drawn ever deeper into an extraordinary place with its own laws and logic, a provocative paradise full of magic and myth whose fraught colonial legacy continues to reverberate. Soon the collision of cultures comes right to Shay’s door, forcing her to make a life-altering decision.
⤖ My Review ⬻
Red Island House by Andrea Lee really transported me to Madagascar (or at least what I imagine Madagascar to be, since I’ve never physically been there). Her writing was effectively descriptive without using large sections of text, and was able to describe settings for me while being very subtle about the fact that a scene is being described. It just came naturally with the corresponding scene.
My experience with Red Island House was an interesting one in the sense that while Shay could be read as the main character, I didn’t connect with her the way that I normally would with a main character… and I think that this is because the most-used setting, Madagascar, played such a prominent aspect of the story that I would go as far as to say that Madagascar itself, or perhaps more specifically the Red House and the land surrounding it, was, in fact, the main character.
Looking back at what I just wrote, and also looking at my photograph of Red Island House–more specifically my eyes zoning in on the title–I’m realizing that perhaps the Red House was meant to be the main character all along since the book is titled after it. All of you reading this are now part of my ah-hah moment!
Red Island House also had an aspect to it that I have come across in adult books opposed to young adult books–the timeline is a lot more stretched out. I won’t go into more detail than that because I don’t want to take away form your experience if you have not read Red Island House yet but plan to do so. And lastly, I wanted to also say that I will not be touching on the use of magic in this book because I think that it will give too much away. Just know that the way that magic was interwoven with the story was great and added to the atmosphere and mystery in Red Island House.
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Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!
Your review is just vague enough that now I need to know lol I walk past this book every time I go to Barnes & Noble and I’m always curious but something stops me from picking it up. I miiiiight this time lol
Hahaha I’m always trying to avoid spoilers 😛 I would have gone into more detail if I could. I hope that you enjoy it if/when you end up picking it up 😉