DNF - I prefer to read books in their original languages if it's in my ability to do so; in this case, it was. I should have properly checked before requesting the book. Nothing against the translator - they did a fantastic job!

This book led me on an interesting tour through Guadaloupe and French history. I enjoyed the distant perspectives of the characters as they each experienced life in Guadaloupe a bit differently. The writing is evocative of the place. Sometimes it was a little confusing as the story jumped between characters.

This is an engrossing and vivid story starting in 1940s in Guadeloupe and concluding in 2006 in France. It’s the story of two sisters - Antoine and Lucinde, their younger brother known as Petit Frere (little brother), their parents, and where they came from. The story is narrated by the brother’s daughter, who although was born and raised in France, yearns to learn more about her ancestry and her foundational roots. The narrator’s primary source is her aunt - Antoine, now seventy-five years old. Antoine is a colorful, headstrong and independent character who has exciting tales to share, having lived a full and eventful life. Interestingly, the story is interspersed by the narrator sharing Lucinde and Petit Frere’s points of view, which were intriguing. As in life, oftentimes people report seeing a situation or incident differently, so too here. Antoine, Lucinde and Petit Frere’s points of view differ slightly. I enjoyed the writing style, as well as the sense of place and time in Guadeloupe. The scenes came alive - the dynamics in the family, especially the three siblings’ parents, their mother’s family, the marketplace, the living conditions - I felt I was there. I could sense the care and detail that went into the making of this book - it definitely felt like a delicate labor of love by the author. I watched an interview with the author and translator, which was interesting, especially learning more about the unique art of translating a book - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=gV-PT5pOPwE. Congratulations to the author on her debut novel. Looking forward to reading more by this author. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Translated from French, pub day 7/5

This was a NetGalley arc that sounded intriguing but got a little lost in translation.

What worked for me: the armchair travel through Guadeloupe, Paris, and the islands of the Antilles, and learning about the history of these places through much of the 20th century. I knew very little of the Caribbean locales and the challenges faced based on sex, race, or economic standings throughout capitalism and colonialism, and felt the main characters brought so much to life for me that I could picture all the changes occurring over the decades. I was down for all of that. Siblings Antoine, Lucinde, and Petit Frère were all well developed main characters, as were their friends and relatives, and I could see this playing out on the big screen with warm ocean breezes, palm trees, tin roof shacks, poor country landscapes and contrasting Parisian cityscapes.

What didn’t: the alternating chapters between three siblings and the niece who interviews each of them in her attempts to gather family history and narratives on her quest to know more about her lineage. Maybe it was just the format on the Kindle, but it felt like the characters, although very unique in every way, got muddled in the storytelling and I had to scroll back pages to remember who was speaking when it should have been crystal clear as they were quite different from one another. Also, the footnotes for translated terms and words were clumped at the end of each chapter rather than embedded through context clues within the passages, so I had to either scroll forward a bunch of pages or just assume I could understand enough to keep reading.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc.

An interesting family saga that weaves it way through a brother, two sisters, and a daughter and from Guadalupe to Paris. The different voices each feel very real and the atmospherics are terrific. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. I'd not previously read a novel set in or about Guadalupe so that was a bonus for me. A good read.

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬: 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐟 “𝐝é𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐲é 𝐳ô𝐭”- 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.

A young woman ‘with a mind full of questions’ about her father’s past, and her family history in Guadeloupe (including Hilaire, a grandfather who lived to be 105), meets with her Aunt Antoine, the seventy-five-year old matriarch. A tall, confident, alluring woman with ‘a mixture of outdated elegance and anarchy” is more than happy to ‘open up’. Well aware she is the strongest link to the family, she has a beautiful manner in relaying the past. She tells her thirty-year-old niece that it’s like there is a whole century between them. She knows what her niece is hungry for, all the stories and understanding for where their place is, how people who must live in two worlds manage. With a three-month-old baby girl, it’s time to root through her family history, to learn just who they all are. So begins the tale of the Ezekiels, why some left and others remained filling a street in Morne- Galant (one of the islands that form Guadeloupe). Her father is known as ‘Petit-Frère’ (little brother) in a family of sisters, the women he’d rather run from. The narrator herself was born in France, a Métis girl (mixed race, a term rarely used) and a rarity in her community. Her father is West Indian and mother is French. Her family was ‘typical French’ and she, always a good student who kept a low profile, knows all too well what it means to be outside of categorization. Her curiosity fires up with others joking about her father’s accent, the ‘uniformity’ and peaceful coexistence of diverse lifestyles (for those willing to embrace French ideals) has often baffled her. She is confused about who she is. This is a novel about identity, how we define it, how those who settle in new places conform or refuse to. What is interesting is in the family history there was a divide when the Ezekiel grandfather (descendants of slaves) married a woman, from the family of the Lebecqs, who had been on the island far longer and were from Breton. There is mystery attached to them as well. She was a beauty that stood out in the poverty of Morne-Galant, her family were a people almost of a different world and the children were fearful of them. The reader learns how Hillarie charmed his way into their good graces, no easy challenge.

The children Hilaire and Eulalie have together grow up outsiders, both families seeing them as neither fully Ezekiels nor Lebecqs . Patriarch Hillarie remains to tend to the sugarcane, as his own siblings come and go from Morne-Galant. He holds tight to ‘absurd pride’, hurting his own family in the process, in favor of his extended family. For little brother, he grows up motherless, tended to by his sisters Antoine and Lucinde. They couldn’t be any more different in talents and temperament but both struggle their way to success. Through Antoine’s tale-spinning, she reveals how instead of money, they have their stories. With her strong ‘nom de savane’, to confuse the evil spirits, she goes by Antoine, not her baptismal name Apollone- as is the tradition. Antoine is the first to escape the island and all the unhappiness but not before caring for her brother, our narrator’s father. She bides her time and collects resentment toward those who stripped her mother’s things away after her death. The siblings each have their say, her father even warning her that her Aunt Antoine is exhausting, dirty, has her little superstitions and yet he lacks her great courage. It is to a cousin, Nonore (the Lebecq side) she turned to when she was just sixteen, hoping to make herself useful in Pointe-a-Pitre, just as poor a place as she escaped. Brave face forward, it is a fresh start, she convinces Nonore to try her out. Just when things go well, the husband returns, ruining it all.

Where Dogs Bark With Their Tales (the title also has meaning) is full of rich characters, the siblings natures are so different, even the way our narrator’s father describes his sisters made me laugh. Antoine baring her teeth when she came home to visit, Lucinde always going to great lengths to get what she wanted, the manner he remembers his father Hilaire- the people become real enough to jump off the page. The struggle out of poverty, the fight to make it when doors were closed based on skin color, the cultural divides, harassment women face and figuring out what is real from family fiction and legends. Antoine is far too clever to ever be a submissive woman, and the niece wonders why she couldn’t grow up in a more colorful, exciting place with traditions and history. Ponders on what she missed out on. Gorgeous story-telling. I was also intrigued by the writing about Antilleans and Black American culture, the commonalities with minority experiences but the difference between France and United states in role models, violence, etc. It isn’t something I have ever thought about until now. This is an intelligent read while also incredibly entertaining. There are tragedies and heavy loss, often someone will rise only to fall. The children took on a lot, and really did have to figure it out for themselves, especially missing their mother. It’s a trajectory that led to France. I fell in love with Antoine. The Guadeloupe of her family’s past is fading, the world is never the same for the descendants. Her family had to get used to concrete, over the lush land of their origins but they have kept so much flavor and life of their island. Yes, a beautiful read that my review isn’t doing justice to. Add it to your summer reading list.

Publication Date: July 5, 2022

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

This was such a beautifully written book. I adored the way the author had the perspectives of the three siblings throughout the story. It was refreshing to hear their tales and takes woven together.

The scene-setting and world-building were exceptional. The author was perfectly adept at giving context as to where certain scenes took place and what it was like at that moment without overburdening the reader with too much. As someone who has never been to Paris or Guadeloupe (or really anywhere), Bulle made me feel like I was there.

The characters were wonderful. I loved the dynamic of Antoine, Lucinde, and Petit-Frére and how they played off one another. It was nice to actually see a dysfunctional family unit that was rather caring for one another underneath it all. I do wish there was more from the niece at times, but I understand it was more her telling her family's story rather than her own.

One thing that slightly bothered me was how the footnotes were always at the end of the chapter. I would initially read the footnotes, forget what it was referring to, and then have to go back and sometimes re-read a bit to better understand. I'm unsure if that was because of the format I was reading, however.

This book is so well written, the prose is sharp and it draws you in. I highly recommend this book - it has a lot of heart and is centered around family.

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. A woman in Paris becomes more and more interested in how her father and two aunts could have been born in a small farming town in Guadeloupe and then each one migrates to the capital city of Pointe-a-Pitre separately and then all three, again separately, eventually migrate to Paris. So she decides to interview each one and finally learn the entire family story. It’s such a rich tale, with her larger than life aunt Antoine leading the way with attitude and a million stories.

This was the first book for me to read by this author but definitely not my last!! The story and characters are so well developed and the book is beautifully written. This will stick with you long after you finish the book. Highly recommend!!!