I thoroughly enjoyed this story and all of the stories and folklore within. I fell in love with the characters and found the folklore very interesting and engaging. I would recommend this book to my friends for sure! A really good debut from this author!

What a debut! I love stories that draw on folklore and spirits and storytelling in general, so the blurb appealed to me right away. It incorporates all of this alongside a contemporary story about family, sexuality and just being in this world. One that stayed with me long after the final page!

Sasha and Zora are steeped in Caribbean folklore absorbed from their parents. Nigel, from Jamaica, tells them about “Rolling Calf,” the vengeful ghost of a butcher paying penance for all the animals he slaughtered; Trinidadian Beatrice reminds them that the hero of the Anansi stories is a woman. Like the trickster spider, these Brooklyn adolescents will have to live by their wits when their family disintegrates – Nigel leaves to marry a German woman and Beatrice returns to Trinidad when she’s diagnosed with metastatic skin cancer.

Apart from a few third-person segments about the parents, the chapters, set between 1997 and 2005, trade off first-person narration duties between Zora, a romantic would-be writer, and Sasha, the black sheep and substitute family storyteller-in-chief, who dates women and goes by Ashes when she starts wearing a binder. It’s interesting to discover examples of queer erasure in both parents’ past, connecting Beatrice more tightly to Sasha than it first appears – people always condemn most vehemently what they’re afraid of revealing in themselves.

I’ve had too much of the patois + legends/magic realism combo recently (e.g., When We Were Birds) and Palmer tries too hard to root her stories in time through 1990s pop culture references. She also exhibits a slightly annoying MFA stylistic showiness. Still, this is the kind of book that would make a good wildcard selection on the Women’s Prize longlist.

This is an Incredible novel that is absolutely rammed with folklore. I loved the characters, I absolutely fell in love with them and havent been able to stop thinking about them

"The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts" explores the spectral realm through inventive storytelling. The book melds humanity and the supernatural, but the narrative can be challenging to follow. The writing showcases moments of creative brilliance, yet the overall impact may be hindered by its complexity. The book offers an intriguing dive into the supernatural, but its unconventional approach might leave some readers feeling a bit adrift.

A story woven into stories, with three narrators. I really liked the points of view of the daughters, but the other chapters were quite hard to understand. I didn’t love but would still recommend.

Excellently explored family dynamic, my heart broke for them (the Porter women i mean...) over and over. The story is brilliantly layered characterwise, relationshipwise and structurally. There's also some fun experimenting with form which I always like. Personally, I wish we'd spent more pages with the ending but that's just me.

This was a really interesting and beautiful exploration of what it means to be human when faced with tragedy. The narrative was split between the two sisters and showed their struggles with friends, sexuality and their parents all framed through stories of Anansi and other Jamaican folklore. The prose was lyrical without ever becoming too flowery and I thought the interactions between the sisters felt authentic throughout. A story about the power of stories is always welcome for me and this one was gorgeous.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If there's anything that I really cannot stomach is emotional and physical abuse of children. Unfortunately the pages I've read were full of just that, and not only. I am afraid I had to give up on in at 20% mark, as I really couldn't put myself through any more abuse, which made me realised there was no way for the narrative to redeem itself enough for me to be able to enjoy it. I am really sorry!

If I'm being completely honest, I was drawn into the book by its beautiful cover and its intriguingly long title, but I'm glad that these things drew me in because it was a really interesting book! I love family dynamics, especially between mothers and daughters, and between sisters, so to get both was great, and I think seeing the differences between each of the older sisters with their mum helped to set the tone of the book. I really liked the way magical realism was woven into the childhood tales told to the two daughters, and hwo they struggled with some more spiritual and religious issues as they got older. Although it provided essential context, I did much prefer the more contemporary-set chapters than Beatrice and Nigel's origin story, which was a bit of a shame. I will be keeping my eye out for Palmer's next work.

This strange story had some excellent potential, telling the story of the Porter family, Zora the aspiring novelist, Sasha, the queer older sister trying to find her place and Beatrice their enigmatic mother. The story is drenched in the Caribbean culture, the folklore of Anansi permeating the prose. There are three narrators, the omnipresent, mischievous voice of "your faithful narrator" the youngest and unborn(?) sister whose presence expands the mythical, folkloric elements of the narrative. Zora and Sasha also take turns to tell their stories, Zora writing and rewriting episodes of her life as she searches for the story within herself. The problem is that these different elements of the story don't hang together, there are too many ideas and competing voices that makes the story difficult to follow, with no clear through-thread. It creates a disjointed narrative that is ultimately a frustrating read. My favourite parts were those about Beatrice and the quirky narrator coupled with this could have been an excellent story in its own right without the complications of the other elements.

There's magic realism, there's fantasy and there's a brilliant plot that kept in thrall and turning pages.
The author is an excellent storyteller and waves this story of family and relationship.
There's something that made me think of Jorge Amado but she's very talented.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This story had so many elements that I found myself struggling to hold them all in my head, but in a novel about the malleability of stories and how they can be retold and take on new meanings depending on the teller, perhaps this slipperiness was intentional.

Stories from Trinidadian and Jamaican folklore were intertwined with the stories of a family, revealing the trauma that the parents had suffered and which shaped the household their children grew up in, and the danger of failing to learn from stories and experiences. Queer identities were integral to the family members’ stories, becoming part of the novel’s wider critique of culture lost to colonialism, white washing and gentrification. Separation from cultures, identities and homelands was a big part of the novel, and that might be another reason for the way it felt fractured. At heart this was a family drama, full of emotions that are messy and complex, while at the same time being understandable and human.

The opening is a shocking introduction to a narrator that challenges the reader outright, and continues to tease and test throughout the novel. It is one of the most compelling parts of the novel and the feature that makes me want to reread this book already.

I think this book went a bit too far over my head. The writing seemed like it should have been very beautifully intricate, but I found it confusing in a lot of places. I think this might have worked better as a short story collection, rather than having odd stories woven into the narrative. I enjoyed parts of this, but I think it just wasn’t for me.

The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter & Other Essential Ghosts
The narration of The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter & Other Essential Ghosts, set this literary fiction book apart from any other I have ever read. Soraya Palmer brought the Anansi story to life with her incredible storytelling and with them the story of Beatrice Porter’s daughters Sasha & Zora.

The Sisters
The sisters, Zora & Sasha, had been told stories since birth. The beauty of these stories is that each time they heard the story a thing or two had changed, making it a new story altogether. They were both conjuring Anansi and Mama Dglo and even knew about the Rolling Calf. All stories were told to them by their parents, Nigel and Beatrice. Stemming from their upbringing in the Caribbean, their father was born in Jamaica, and their mother was born in Trinidad.

Both were storytellers in their own way. Zora was the writer with her journal filled with observations of her surroundings and of the relationship between her parents. Sasha has a way with spoken words. Her stories are better told aloud. Both brought into stories that have existed for centuries.

Nigel & Beatrice
A relationship that existed on the moon before it even came to be. Two individuals leave their island and find themselves in New York. They tell the stories of Anansi, Mama Dglo, and the Rolling Calf. They see each other and even when the relationship crumbles, they still see each other. Nigel moves on with his new wife and Beatrice having fallen ill moves back to Trinidad. But that is not the last of them seeing each other.

The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter & Other Essentials Ghosts
A powerful novel that brings these characters together time and time again. Being family isn’t the only thing that binds them together, the stories do that too. The narrator is telling us many stories within this book. It even gets a little cheeky, making this book different than any I have ever read. The power of storytelling is even used by the sisters, in the attempt to save their mother. The stories once told to them as children make their way into their adulthood. The powers of a story, their story, and the ancient lines of ancestors we carry with us.

I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done a fantastic job of creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems. The language is clear, concise, and evocative, with descriptions that bring the setting and characters to life. Dialogue is natural and authentic, and the pacing is well-balanced, with enough tension and release to keep the reader engaged.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, and no significant gaps between words. Some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Sadly I did not connect with this book at all. I've read lots of really good reviews but for me it felt a little flat.

The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts by Soraya Palmer

I recently finished this debut novel based on a recommendation from Brown Girls author Daphne Palasi Andreades in the bookbar book club interview.

It’s a tale of two sisters, Zora and Sascha, growing up in Brooklyn with parents from Trinidad and Jamaica. They face a variety of challenges, including illness, divorce, rifts, neglect, violence, and secrets.

Throughout the book, the family members reinterpret folklore to make sense of their lives, communicate with one another when they lack words and as a way to heal their relationships.

I didn’t always follow what was real, magical realism or hallucinations but I think I would have benefited from being more familiar with the folk characters that were being rewritten.

Although the sisters were the main characters, I found them a little simplistic; the optimistic budding writer and the realist, troubled elder. I was more drawn to the complex and damaged parents. The sisters are mainly unaware of the depths of their parents’ inner lives, and experiences and how this shaped their family life.

Released 27th April
Gifted by @netgalley @serpentstail

a gorgeous southern gothic and compelling debut. the storytelling was beautiful, the relationships were complex and the representation was authentic. i really enjoyed the refreshed classic folklore and use of history to highlight particular issues in both the characters lives and in the real world.

4.5. a wonderful feminist folktale novel about jamaican-trinidadian sisters who cope with trauma by escaping into stories, and so much more. it explores themes of race, gender, queerness, sisterhood, motherhood, sexuality, family secrets and folklore. it's nothing like any other book I've ever read. it's haunting, gothic and deeply layered. I couldn't put it down.