I have been drawn to books with generational family drama lately, and this one checked all the boxes for me. The novel follow a Jamaican family that immigrated from Cuba in the ‘30s. After the patriarch of the family dies, the children come together to search for their missing siblings.

The rich descriptions of the setting, and the historical context given about Jamaica and Cuba had me turning pages. The story was a bit of a slow build, which made me a little frustrated at times because I like a quicker pace, but overall, this was a solid read.

Thank you to Donna Hemans, Zibby Books and NetGalley for an e-copy of this book for an honest review.

A wonderful well written story about a lady who has had a rough life determined to reclaim her home. This novel helps to shed the light on the meaning of home. The family was divided and split but the main character fights to reunite everyone.

I appreciate stories of complicated families, especially when they provide a window to a situation\setting that's different from my own. So I thought I’d really enjoy The House of Plain Truth by Donna Hemans, but instead it left me frustrated.

Written in somewhat of a dual timeline format, the story is told primarily by Pearline who left her father and sisters in Jamaica as a young woman to seek a better life in America. After living in Brooklyn for decades, she returns to her homeland to care for her dying father. His deathbed wish launches her investigation into family history and searching for siblings she hasn't seen in 60 years. Along the way, she creates a found family at the family's homestead and learns secrets that threaten to destroy the very foundation on which her family was built.

The plot was inspired by the author's family history, and I commend her for sharing it so publicly. The information about the politics between Cuba and Jamaica prior to the late 1970s was new learning for me, and I enjoyed the exploration of the meaning of 'home.' The sense of place was well done with lush descriptions of native plants and local food. However, I had difficulty connecting with the characters, and just when I became interested in a person or group, the time would switch to a different decade of the family's history. I frequently felt the plot took two steps forward and then one back.

Thank you to Cindy Burnett and the Thoughts From a Page Early Reads Program for the opportunity to read a review copy and participate in an interview with the author.

The House Of Plain Truth is a lyrically written beautiful book about home and belonging.
Pearline, the protagonist is back in Jamaica in the house she has grown up in. She is retired - a nurse who spent her work life in Brooklyn - home caring for her dying father. She has a hard time reconnecting with her two sisters who stayed on the island. But things get even more complicated when his father’s last wish is uttered, he is calling for his other kids, the kids left behind 60 years ago in Cuba.
Pearline must try to unravel her parents legacy, a legacy of migration for work and trying so hard to return successful only to have hopes dashed through circumstances on the world stage. And the reverberations those developments had on all their lives and see reflections in her own much more successful but also uprooting migrant’s journey to the US to work where her adult daughter and grandchildren have stayed even though she has now returned to Jamaica. Against her sisters objections she wants to keep their parents’ home and try to make it her father’s dream farm. But she also feels it imperative to find their older siblings left behind in Cuba when the family was forced to move back to Jamaica. A bit of mystery, a bit of historical fiction and a whole lot of brilliant storytelling !

Pearline leaves Brooklyn (and her daughter and granddaughter) to return home to Jamaica when she hears that her father is near death. She left Jamaica and her family there behind years ago to start a new life in America.

On his deathbed, Pearline’s father tells her: “You are my memory now.” With that, Pearline knows that she must find the siblings that her family left in Cuba when they left the country to return to Jamaica 50 years ago. In addition, a family mystery arises over who owns The House of Plain Truth. Family lore says that Pearline’s parents built the house in 1933 when they returned from Cuba. While Pearline fights with her two sisters to keep the house in the family, she learns that family lore might not reflect truth.

I love a family saga and I appreciated the setting of this book and the themes of migration, family secrets and finding one’s place in the world. However, the book felt somewhat repetitive. I was shocked to see it was only 288 pages. (I read it on Kindle)

What does it mean to leave, and what does it take to stay in a place? Can you emigrate and ever feel completely at home in the new place? This novel addresses some of those questions as we follow Pearline who abruptly returns to Jamaica to care for her dying father after living in Brooklyn for 60 years.

Her father’s last words are "Find them for me". Pearline makes it her mission to find her missing siblings, who were left behind in Cuba in 1933. The novel then dives into some of the history between Jamaican immigrants to Cuba, and leaving a place worse than when you started. I loved learning this history, which I knew next to nothing about.
Overall this was a slow burn family mystery about finding one’s place, set in a different time period and setting than I normally read and I enjoyed it.

This delightful novel pulled me in quickly and carried me to Jamaica with page turning characterizations and wonderful imagery. I could see, smell, taste and feel this story. Hemans is masterful at description. I found myself pulling for various characters and growing increasingly invested in the outcome. I thoroughly enjoyed being swept away by a family and place som completely different than to which I am accustomed. I believe this book will appeal to a very broad audience, and recommend it enthusiastically.

The House of Plain Truth by Donna Hemans is about the emotional journey one woman makes after returning home to Jamacia, plagued by memories of Cuba and what that means for her family, and struggling to connect with her adult daughter left behind in the United States. Hemans' writing style is very lyrical and pretty, while gripping your heart as Pearline wrestles with her identity.

I read half of the book thanks to an ARC through NetGalley and listened to the second half thanks to an ALC from Libro.fm. I felt the narrator did a great job at bringing the story alive especially with the various accents and characters.

As a whole, I liked The House of Plain Truth but I struggled at times with the pacing. It felt slow, and perhaps purposefully slow, but I'd find myself unable to sprint read like I normally do.

Thank you to Zibby Books for the gifted ARC.

THE HOUSE OF PLAIN TRUTH by Donna Hermans offers the possibility for reflection on what it means to be family, to be home, to be who you are and head out into the world. Simply put, this tale of a woman going back home to a home rife with drama and competing stories is one that touched me to the core. While I am not her, not from Jamaica or Brooklyn, not facing a deathbed wish to reunite long estranged family members, my own memories invited themselves in for along rock on the back porch. A powerful story, quietly and so well-told! I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

Thank you to the author Donna Hemans, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of THE HOUSE OF PLAIN TRUTH. All views are mine.

THE HOUSE OF PLAIN TRUTH is about many things, as good stories often are, but above all it is about home. What home means, and what we must do to find it, reclaim it if necessary, and in the end keep it.

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. A really good expression of grief in the opening chapter: Each hymn seems louder, and she thinks of the hymns as vines wrapping themselves around her body, not comforting but choking and causing her grief to spill without control. Loc.193

2. There's an excellent example of systemic racism in the opening pages of this book. It's a concept that can be difficult to simplify, but Herman's does it perfectly: No one has said directly that Jamaicans shouldn’t be there. But the idea is culturally ingrained, a relic of the colonial past reinforced by advertisements that show tourists with pale or lightly tanned skin enjoying what the country offers and dark-skinned laborers serving them. Always. Loc.413

3. The candid descriptions of the emotional weight carried by members of the African diaspora are haunting and stunning. Hemans's style has both elegance and simplicity, so she can describe challenging concepts and ideas in easily readable ways.

4. This book is incredibly nuanced on the topics of family dynamics and property inheritance, which makes for a wonderfully tense story (if a bit slow paced sometimes).

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. Opening line is at worst ageist and at best careless.

2. Sometimes books take on too many big themes. I think this rarely works out, though. By the halfway point of the book, the reader becomes aware of a number of weighty topics under consideration. It can cause a kind of reader exhaustion.

Rating: 🏡🏡🏡🏡.5 / 5 family homes
Recommend? Yes, for fans of slow burn
Finished: Jan 26 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🇯🇲 stories set in Jamaica
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 family stories, family drama
👭🏽 sister conflicts
🏠 land and inheritance

The House of Plain Truth is a moving account of one woman's attempt to answer the question of can we ever really go home again. When Pearline heads back to the family homestead in Jamaica to care for her dying father, she is thrust back into the family dynamics she fled the island for three decades prior, and given a task by her father to track down long-lost siblings who remained behind in Cuba when Pearline was just a young child. Pearline grapples with her own aging, her fraught relationship with her own daughter, and the unexpected joy brought by new relations. Recommend for lovers of family stories with strong female characters at their center. Thanks to Zibby Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

It is a novel that explores themes of family and identity, focusing on the protagonist's connection to Jamaica and her family's mysterious history in Cuba.
"The House of Plain Truth by Donna Hemans takes us on an emotional journey through the experiences of a Jamaican woman returning home after many years in the United States. The plot revolves around her relationship with her dying father and the revelation of a dark family secret related to her relatives in Cuba.
The narrative is notable for its captivating descriptions of Jamaica, which capture the essence and beauty of the island, as well as the protagonist's deep emotional connection to her home. The family home, christened "The House of Plain Truth" by her mother, becomes a character in itself, evoking feelings of nostalgia and deep-rooted love in the protagonist.
However, despite the intriguing premise and rich descriptions, the novel seems to keep the mystery surrounding the relatives in Cuba in suspense until the very end. This approach left me wanting more development and exploration of the subplot, as the resolution is presented late in the narrative.
Despite this aspect, the play manages to convey the protagonist's deep love for her homeland and home, which adds an additional layer of complexity to the story. Overall, The House of Plain Truth is a delightful read with its evocative descriptions and its exploration of the emotional connection to the homeland, although I would have wished for an earlier and fuller development of the subplot in Cuba.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Zibby Book for providing me with a digital copy of this work to review.

Ésta es una novela que explora temas familiares y de identidad, centrándose en la conexión de la protagonista con Jamaica y la misteriosa historia de su familia en Cuba.
"The House of Plain Truth" de Donna Hemans nos lleva a un viaje emocional a través de las experiencias de una mujer jamaicana que regresa a su hogar después de muchos años en Estados Unidos. La trama gira en torno a la relación con su padre moribundo y la revelación de un oscuro secreto familiar relacionado con sus parientes en Cuba.
La narrativa se destaca por sus cautivadoras descripciones de Jamaica, que capturan la esencia y la belleza de la isla, así como la profunda conexión emocional de la protagonista con su hogar. La casa familiar, bautizada como "The House of Plain Truth" por su madre, se convierte en un personaje en sí misma, evocando sentimientos de nostalgia y amor arraigados en la protagonista.
Sin embargo, a pesar de la intrigante premisa y las ricas descripciones, la novela parece mantener en suspenso el misterio que rodea a los familiares en Cuba hasta el final. Este enfoque me ha dejado deseando más desarrollo y exploración de la trama secundaria, ya que la resolución se presenta tardíamente en la narrativa.
A pesar de este aspecto, la obra logra transmitir el profundo amor de la protagonista por su tierra natal y su hogar, lo que añade una capa adicional de complejidad a la historia. En general, "The House of Plain Truth" es una lectura que encanta con sus descripciones evocadoras y su exploración de la conexión emocional con la tierra natal, aunque yo hubiera deseado un desarrollo más temprano y completo de la trama secundaria en Cuba.
Muchas gracias a NetGalley y a Zibby Book por facilitarme una copia digita de esta obra para reseñarla.

Family secrets and drama. Pearline left Jamaica and built a life and family in the US but she's back because her father Rupert is dying. His last wish is that she find her older siblings, who were left in Cuba when the family moved back to Jamaica. He's opened a can of worms for Pearline, who must deal with her sisters Hermina and Aileen, both of whom resent her. There's als0 the issue of the estate (such as it is). Hemans has provided interesting insight into families who moved between the islands for work and into the dynamics of reunited families. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good read.

If you’re looking for an incredibly immersive book that will whisk you away to another destination, another family, another saga than your own, then this book is for you. Honestly, this book couldn’t just be read. It needed to be lived. Almost immediately, I was transported to Jamaica with Pearline, a woman returning home to say goodbye to her father after spending most of her adult life in America. Haunted by her father’s last wishes to find her long-lost siblings, Pearline struggles to make sense of the family truths she is uncovering. Armed with her memory, a trunk full of old papers and a desire to grant her father his last wish, Pearline vows to find answers. As I read, I couldn’t help but get lost in the pages and would literally need to shake my head after reading to free myself from the world I entered. Pearline’s recent return home, struggles with her adult daughter and frustration at not feeling like she belonged was palpable, as was her heartbreak over losing her siblings so long ago. The writing is intense, descriptive and real and the reading experience is all of those things and more. If you love books that can make you forget where you are, if you love books with strong family ties and drama and if you love books where characters can rewrite their stories, then this book is for you. If you enjoy books like Black Cake by Charmaine Wilson or The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz, then add this book to your TBR, too.

The House of Plain Truth is a slow burn family drama with a bit of a mystery element about long lost family members and fulfilling a father’s dying wish. I didn’t feel like I got the closure I needed at the end of the story. I appreciated learning about the history between Jamaica and Cuba. Sadly, it was a bit of history I knew nothing about. Read this if you enjoyed Black Cake, like family relationships, secrets, and a sense of belonging.

Buckle up book club people, have I got the title for you! Set in present-day Jamaica (with a healthy amount of flashbacks to Jamaica and Cuba some 80 years ago), The House of Plain Truth is a story of one daughter's journey to honor her beloved father's dying wish. However, the twist in this richly told story is that the daughter, Pearline, must first make meaning of her father's cryptic message. Part multigenerational story about the complexities and power of family, part exploration into the damning effects of colonialism and the ripple effect of pain it inflicts, and part meditation on the concept of home, I cannot recommend this book enough!

Thank you to Zibby books for the review copy and for supporting a story that reflects lives of families impacted by migrant work, who have made journeys that involve at times loss and courage, separation and hope... This book reflects how family members can matter even after passing, even as time passes, and how families are shaped over time by decisions, by challenges, by pathways that bring people closer even while apart. I loved the cultural nuances brought to life by Donna Hemans writing and how she uses storytelling to honor her own family and legacies.

A story of complicated family matters and secrets that run deep, this story kept me wanting to know what truly happened so many years ago. Pearline is faced with opposing opinions from her sisters which is so relatable and her quest for the truth and connection cannot be surpassed. I felt the emotion, pain and struggle Pearline was going through. Donna did a beautiful job in writing this story and takes the reader to Jamaica and on the family quest alongside Pearline.

Great for lovers of Black Cake, The House of Plain Truth by Donna Hemans is a rich family drama with an unspooling mystery at its center.

Pearline leaves her daughter and grandchildren behind in Brooklyn to return to her childhood home in Jamaica before her father passes away. His deathbed wish is to find the siblings they left behind in Cuba sixty years ago. The story explores the plight of migrant workers who left their Caribbean Islands in search of work and the generational trauma they pass on.

Inspired by the author’s own family story, The House of Plain Truth explores the true meaning of home and family and what we owe to loved ones who have left us.

Thank you to Zibby Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The House of Plain Truth follows a family who lives in Jamaica but immigrated from Cuba in the 30s. After their father dies the sisters must find their missing siblings who were left behind. While I usually love books that deal with generational family dramas this one just didn’t do it for me. I did love the descriptions of the place and characters though!