Valerie Mason-John, Borrowed Body

[rcloenen-ruiz.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone. I'm new to 50books_poc and this is my first post :

I chose my first book on the basis of having met the writer in person, and because I found myself very much inspired by her at a time when I was about to give up on my own fiction.

Borrowed Body by Valerie Mason-John:

"Borrowed Body" is Pauline's story. Pauline is a black girl who was left by her mother in foster care when she was a child. Mason-John has a strong and compelling voice and we follow Pauline as she is moved from one foster home to the other until she finally is placed in Dr. Barnardo's Village in Essex.

"Borrowed Body" starts with these lines: 

I could have been born and raised in Africa. But my Spirit was in too much of a rush to be reincarnated. Instead I borrowed the body of a Nigerian woman who was trying to escape her life by setting sail to the land of Milk and Honey. I thought I saw two lovers lying together on the flower-strewn banks of the river Oshun. So I said to myself here's the chance I've been waiting for. I jumped inside her body in the hopes this time round I would be a love child.

It's hard to encapsulate "Borrowed Body" in a few lines, but I liked the way in which this book told its story in a straightforward manner. This is an engaging book with strong, beautiful prose and a hopeful ending.

"Borrowed Body" is a bit difficult to classify. Mason-John calls it a fictional magical-realist memoir and I think the book fits the bill. There are elements of the fantastic woven in with the very real world, but because of how this story is based on the author's own experience of growing up in Dr. Barnardo's Village, it easily fits within the literary mold as well.

Comments

[waelisc.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh. I went to Amazon to see if this was still available and they had the whole first chapter. It was both breathtaking and heartbreaking.

Did you get to hear her speak? What was she like?

[rcloenen-ruiz.livejournal.com]

She sat beside me at the workshop I was attending. One of the most beautiful persons I've ever met. She was warm and generous and very giving. She told me that sometimes, it's best to just let go of a work and let your stream of consciousness take over. I didn't know about stuff like this because I'd never been to a writing class or a workshop before the one I was in.

Anyway, I attended her reading later in the day, and she has got a lovely reading voice. Very compelling. If you ever get the chance to hear her read, I would say, go.