More: A Novel - Hardcover

Clarke, Austin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061772402 ISBN 13: 9780061772405

Publisher: Amistad, 2009

Synopsis

From Austin Clarke, the critically acclaimed author of The Polished Hoe—winner of the Giller Prize—comes More, a powerful new novel of survival in a cold and alienating world. Certain to become a classic in contemporary  world literature, More carries readers into the lonely life of an immigrant domestic—abandoned years before by a faithless husband, her life devastated by her son’s involvement in gang culture and crime—and her remarkable journey from tragedy back to the light. An unforgettable portrait of the black immigrant experience, it is a novel to be read and remembered.

About this title

About the Author

Austin Clarke is a professor of literature and has taught at Yale, Brandeis, Williams, Duke, and the Universities of Texas and Indiana. He assisted in setting up a Black Studies program at Yale in 1968, after which he became the cultural attaché of the Embassy of Barbados in Washington, D.C. Culminating with the international success of The Polished Hoe, which won the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and the Trillium Prize, Austin Clarke's work since 1964 includes eleven novels, six short-story collections, and four memoirs. He lives in Toronto.

From the Back Cover

At the news of her son BJ's involvement in gang crime, Idora Morrison, a maid at the local university, collapses in her basement apartment. For four days and nights she retreats into a vortex of memory, pain, and disappointment that becomes a riveting exposé of her life as a Caribbean immigrant living abroad. While she struggled to make ends meet, her deadbeat husband, Bertram, abandoned her for a better life in New York. Left alone to raise her son, Idora has done her best to survive against immense odds. But now that BJ has disappeared into a life of crime, she recoils from his loss and is unable to get out of bed, burdened by feelings of invisibility.

As she summons the strength to investigate her son's troubles—and her own weaknesses—the book quietly builds to its crescendo. Eventually Idora finds her way back into the light with a courage that is both remarkable and unforgettable.

More zeroes in, with laserlike intensity, on the interior life of an extraordinary "ordinary woman," showcasing Clarke's skill as a writer of inimitable force.

Reviews

Prolific Canadian novelist Clarke finally found fame with his 2003 novel, The Polished Hoe. In this follow-up, Clarke stays true to his politically charged style, reporting various manifestations of racism through the life of a Caribbean immigrant living in Canada. Like the author, Idora Morrison is a Barbados native living in Toronto. Her deadbeat husband has left her for New York City, and her beloved teenage son has disappeared into gang life. Unable to cope, Idora loses herself in meandering stories of her life and 25 years in Toronto. She recalls daily prejudice from white Canadians, the embarrassment at her race's media degradation and her rewarding but uneasy friendship with Josephine, a white woman. Finding constant comfort in the Bible story of Jonah and the Whale, Idora finally, painfully, finds her way back to life. An introspective examination of cultural racism and the life of minorities, this detailed (though loaded) narrative should strike a chord with Clarke's audience. (Sept.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Amistad
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0061772402
• ISBN 13: 9780061772405
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320