book review: how the one armed woman sweeps the house

How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps The House by Cheri Jones

Little, Brown and Company an imprint of Hachette Books, released February 2, 2021

STORY ✔️

CHARACTERS ✔️

PROSE ✔️

Goodreads rating: ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: This story follows Lala as she gives birth to her first child and her world as she knows it falls apart. From the point of view of her husband, grandmother, best friend, and other characters weaved into her birth story, we learn about the past of her family and how she got into her present abusive marriage to a criminal. Through the events that follow her daughters birth she is forced to recognize her life as one of just merely surviving, and she wants more than that.

One-sentence review: No one can make the best decisions or be their best self when lacking love, stability, and safety. But it is often through the hardest times that you can find your agency and confidence to get the hell outta there.

Overall Storytelling/Structure: each chapter is from a different characters point of view from the present day or a significant time in the past. In the end we all meet in the same moment for a grand finale. 

Writing Style/Prose: beautifully written with a slight leaning toward the local dialect/voice. Even though we have a larger picture than each of the characters, their individual retelling help to layer the story and build up our care (or hate) for each.

Characters: after introductions we take a deep dive into the origin story of each of the major characters that explains how they got to this point, why they think and act so, and what they want to get to. It is through showing not telling that Jones helps you attach to those who need your rooting on and the villains that you want to root against, all the while painting the complications of their lives that have clouded their judgement to focus merely on survival. 

Mood: this is not a light read as it definitely speaks to some tough subjects (TW: domestic abuse, incest, child death). Best to approach with empathy and a heart ready to learn about the world through these characters who are looking for love and stability in an community severely lacking those two necessities. 

What is there to learn: while fictional this certainly reveals the minor economies that surround tourism that make up most locals main economy. Lala’s determination to create a better life and get away from her abusers will inspire every reader.

Books Similar/Read if you like: Girl With The Louding Voice, Dominicana, Edwidge Dandicat and Toni Morrison.