The House of Broken Bricks

Write what you know so other people can see themselves in your story and know they're not alone. I don't know if Fiona Williams was thinking this when she wrote this beautifully written, almost almanac-like in it levels of descriptions of the passing year in a village in the west of England. A family of white husband, black mother and mixed-race twins, it isn't afraid to show the reality of being of a different ethnicity in a rural location and how your allies are not what where you expect and neither are your foes. Despite the tragedy at its core,… show more.

This is the most beautiful, poetic book packed with exquisite descriptions of the English countryside as we meet the seemingly perfect country family of mother and homemaker, Tess; her gardener husband, Richard; and the very non-identical twins, Sonny and Max.

Because Tess is a Londoner of Jamaican heritage–a pregnant bride that Richard brought back to his West Country family home after their student love affair–Sonny is dark and curly-haired like his mother while Max could ‘pass’ because he looks so much like his father.

This was an uncomfortable read for me–the micro-aggressions and casual racism of rural life stirred up… show more.