Beyond the Limbo Silence

by Elizabeth Nunez

Book Overview

" A] haunting story . . . Bears witness to the struggles of an African Caribbean woman as she seeks to find her place in America without selling her soul." -BEBE MOORE CAMPBELL, Author of Your Blues Ain't Like Mine When Sara Edgehill is given a scholarship to leave Trinidad and attend a college in Wisconsin, she is thrilled. America, the one she has seen in the movies, is a land of dreams, prosperity, and equality. Not like Trinidad, where her parents...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345451082
• ISBN13: 9780345451088
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Beyond Fiction

The widely respected and extremely talented author of When Rocks Dance and Bruished Hibiscus, Elizabeth Nunez brings us another powerful, lyrically superb piece of writing in BEYOND THE LIMBO SILENCE. Among a growing list of gifted writers from Trinidad-Tobago, Nunez chronicles the agonizing personal struggles of Sara Edgehill as she leaves her native Trinidad for a Catholic women's college in radically different Wisconsin. But there's much more to this story than merely "making cultural adjustments in a new environment." The author skillfully and brilliantly interweaves and delicately balances socio-politics and artistry into a bold intellectual defiance of literary convention by inviting the reader into the sometimes unfathomable mysticism of Caribbean reality. And what better historical vehicle to employ than the explosive dynamics of the 60s? I have had the pleasure of hearing Ms Nunez speak before a live university forum and this story to me reads more like a stolen page from her own life that she has chosen to share with us than a fictional account of a young girl experiencing college life in a faraway land. this is vigorously commanding storytelling which I admire greatly. This is a MUST READ novel.Alan CambeiraAuthor of Azucar! The Story of Sugar (a novel)

I hear the silence.

Beyond the Limbo Silence, the story of a young woman with a passion for books who left the opulence of her beautiful Trinidad to attend a college in rural Wisconsin, reads like a fable with legends and mythic creatures. Sara Edgehill left home because she felt she was a sad reminder of what her mother could never have. She needs to accept that this time in America is her destiny.Sara's arrival in the early 1960's to this cold alien place where she is neither loved nor understood is the beginning of a tumultuous journey. She meets Sam, a young, charismatic African American man and is immediaely drawn into the turbulence of the civil rights struggle. And as she struggles to find a place in America without selling her soul, Sara layers her awakening with the evocative mysticism of her West Indies culture and she illuminates the pages of the book. And finally she finds her empowerment. This coming of age novel about the courage of the sixties is a candid look at the differences and the sameness of both countries as they struggled to obtain equality. It is an overwhelming display of the strength and resiliency of the African dispora. Ms. Nunez has written a captivating story in a beautiful prose, that's sprinkled with magical realism. I highly recommend this book. Reviewed by aNN Brown

Very good book.

Not being familiar with Elizbeth Nunez, I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty of her writing. It was poetic without being overwhelming. She excels at setting description and character development. The plot moved fluidly along. I was kept intrigued, and found the book difficult to put down. There was a need for a more full description of the spiritual terms and rituals in the book, either in text or perhaps in footnotes or glossary form. Because of the lack of this, confusion marred an otherwise delightful read.I look forward to reading Nunez's other offerings.

A lesson for those too young to remember

Reading this book took me back, vividly, to the era of my youth. Ms. Nunez does a superb job of telling it like it was without being preachy or condecending. I knew right away that I had to pass the book on to my children. My children are so innocent. They just don't seem to realize the hidden pitfalls and subtleties of prejudice. I think this book, with its surprisingly gentle manner of revealing a violent time, will help them understand.

I LOVED THIS BOOK

This book was so good that I don't even know what to say about it. First of all, Nunez is a phenomenal author with an excellent talent for weaving a beautiful and intricate tale while simultaneously offering the reader a great deal of knowledge. I felt as though I learned a great deal about West Indian culture and the Civil Rights movement in the United States. The characters were very well developed. I felt their truimphs and their short falls as my own. Sarah is a brilliant character, and her relationship with fellow exchange student Courtney, although strange and disturbing, was intriguing as well. This one comes highly recommended to all.