Hold

Hold is a difficult book for me to review because there are some aspects of it that I absolutely loved, but other aspects that didn't work for me at all. It is a novel in three sections - two set in Ghana with a London section in between. I loved Michael Donkor's depictions of both locations. Each is vivid and exciting and we get to see, hear and even smell Daban and Brixton. The linking character, Belinda, is new to each place so I liked the details she observes and the glaring contrasts, especially her shock at how successful Ghanaians live in London compared to their lives 'back home'. Donkor scatters Ghanaian expressions and phrases throughout the story - there's glossary at the front - which strongly adds to the authenticity.

I was interested to note that the majority of Donkor's characters are female - and believably female at that - which is unusual for a male author. Belinda especially is wonderfully complex. She has had to learn quiet repression as her survival strategy and struggles to impart this lesson to either exhuberant Mary or westernised Amma. I wasn't convinced by the idea that two teenagers from such different backgrounds and temperaments would gel so deeply and so swiftly so the intense denouement of their coming together felt forced to me although I could see why it was portrayed in this way. I didn't like the open-endedness of the stories either. To me, Hold felt like it left important ideas unresolved, for two of the three girls anyway. Donkor cleverly explores ideas of belonging and identity, but then leaves his characters seemingly stranded without giving readers a sense of conclusion. I appreciated being able to share in their physical and emotional journeys, but need to know what happened next!