The beach in Barbados where this novel is set may be promoted in tourist brochures as a holiday spot known as Paradise, but the reality is anything but idyllic. On the other side of high-walled expensive houses the real residents of this area dwell in much more ramshackle accommodation and many barely make a living by working as cleaners, hairdressers, drug dealers or prostitutes to visiting foreigners. Economic disparity couldn't be any more evident and the way this is so sharply described shows how it underpins much of the horrific violence in this novel. The story mainly switches focus between two characters. There is Lala, a young wife, mother to a newborn baby and island resident who is the victim of persistent domestic abuse. And there is also Mira Whalen, a woman who married into wealth and whose husband is shot dead during an attempted robbery of their upscale holiday home. The novel explores the way their stories intersect alongside a group of characters surrounding them and frequently tunnels into their backstories. However, events primarily revolve around dramatic crimes which occur in the late summer of 1984.
As in many instances of extreme poverty and desperation, violence against women is prevalent in this community. The novel shows how this physical and sexual brutality persists through generations. Lala's husband Adan vocalizes his justification for beating his wife and makes her feel like she deserves what he's doing to her. This is infuriating and frightening to read about, but one of the most shocking things about this story is the sense Lala's grandmother Wilma gives that women are to blame because men can't help their lust which leads to aggressive and sexually abusive behaviour. Therefore, she turns against her own daughter and granddaughter. This meaningfully shows the way a patriarchal sensibility poisons the minds of everyone who lives here. So, while it's difficult to read about the many kinds of abuse and violence portrayed in this novel, it's also powerful how it conveys the deeply ingrained sexist dynamic of this particular society. There's also a strong element of suspense running throughout the book. I read it compulsively as I had to know what was going to happen to Lala, Mira and Lala's longtime flame Tone. The ending is suitably explosive! The one-armed sister of the title refers to an allegory which Wilma tells Lala as a girl and I enjoyed how the conclusion of the novel makes an ironic statement which undermines the moral of Wilma’s tale which was meant to keep Lala in check.
