Children of paradise : a novel

Title:

Author:

D'Aguiar, Fred, 1960-

Personal Author:

D'Aguiar, Fred, 1960-

ISBN:

9780062277329

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

363 pages ; 24 cm

Abstract:

After following a charismatic preacher to the jungles of Guyana, Joyce and her young daughter, Trina, are desperate to break free of the commune before the inevitable mass suicide and attempts a daring escape with the help of a local boat captain and an extraordinary gorilla named Adam.

Subject Term:

Communal living -- Guyana -- Fiction.

Captive wild animals -- Fiction.

Cults -- Guyana -- Fiction.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Belmont	Book	FICTION D'AGUIA	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Acclaimed novelist, playwright, and poet Fred D'Aguiar has been short-listed for the T.S. Eliot Prize in poetry for Bill of Rights, his narrative poem about the Jonestown massacre, and won the Whitbread First Novel Award for The Longest Memory. In this beautifully imagined work of literary fiction, he returns to the territory of Jim Jones's utopian commune, interweaving magical realism and shocking history into a resonant story of love, faith, oppression, and sacrifice in which a mother and daughter attempt to break free with the help of an extraordinary gorilla.

Joyce and her young daughter, Trina, are members of a utopian community ruled by a magnetic preacher. When Trina, plays too near to the cage holding the commune's gorilla, Adam, the ape attacks and kills the child. Or so everyone believes. That night, the preacher dramatically "revives" her--an act that transforms Trina into a symbol of its charismatic leader's God-like power. Desperate to save her daughter from the preacher's control, the outspoken Joyce attempts a daring escape, a run for freedom aided by another prisoner--the remarkable Adam.

Told with a sweeping perspective in lush prose, shimmering with magic, and devastating in its clarity, Children of Paradise is a brilliant and evocative exploration of oppression--of both mind and body--and of the liberating power of storytelling.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

A mother and daughter seek to escape a commune headed by an autocratic preacher in D'Aguiar's (The Longest Memory, 1995, etc.) evocative novel, based on tragic events that occurred in 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. They've surrendered their birth certificates, their worldly possessions and their free wills to follow a charismatic leader to an exotic location in the midst of a jungle. But their 3,000 acre commune is far from the utopia some devotees envisioned. Instead, members endure beatings and theatrical tests of faith, including ones that involve absolute trust while scorpions or tarantulas skitter up and down their arms. The preacher often uses fear and deceptive, "miraculous" resurrections to maintain a firm grip on a community that includes Joyce, her 10-year-old daughter, Trina, and a caged gorilla named Adam, whose thoughts and actions provide a unique perspective to D'Aguiar's narrative. Much as the preacher's praise and special attention ensure cooperation and adoration from his adherents, fruit and back scratches guarantee the gorilla's loyalty, at least for a time. But not all who live within the commune remain complacent. Some are labeled dissidents, and others, like Trina's friend Ryan, try to run away or go into hiding. Joyce holds a trusted position keeping the commune's books in order and makes occasional boat trips to the mainland office, where money often changes hands with local officials. She and the boat's captain develop an attraction, and he entertains Trina with stories about a spirited spider named Anansi while he verbally spars with Joyce when she defends the commune and invites him to join. When the preacher increasingly begins to single out Trina, Joyce and her daughter plan their escape from a community so enthralled with his promises they dutifully practice when he instructs them to rehearse the ultimate act. Joyce insists that they limit their plan of escape to themselves, but Trina has a change of heart. D'Aguiar's narrative adequately describes the brutality and manipulative efforts of a self-absorbed leader, and his depiction of Adam and the infusion of magical realism add an unusual and sympathetic aspect to the story. The author provides insight into the psyche of cult members, but it's still puzzling why any person would blindly follow such destructive directives.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.