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alienist, Barbados, book launch, books, Caribbean authors, Caribbean books, Caribbean Books Foundation, Caribbean writers, colonial times, Review, romance, slavery, The Vault, thriller, W St Cyr
Hello all! Welcome back visitors and lovely friends. It’s book review time! And for some reason my mood is a little between this…
…and this.
Yeah, it’s been THAT kinda day – week, BUT WE PRESS ON!
After months, I am finally back with another review. This time we’re going over to the ‘bearded’ island, the one and only Barbados, for a novel by Bajan author W. St. Cyr whose work I’ve reviewed before. This time we are looking at his newest release, The Vault.
The Vault follows William Stalker, a Scotland-born, mulatto doctor, who is sentenced to years of hard labour on the island of Barbados after he is accused of killing a Baron in England. While there, he not only discovers his roots as his mother was born on the island to a black slave before she was sent to Scotland but, after being exonerated, he is also tasked with investigating the strange case of the moving coffins in the wealthy Chase family’s burial vault.
Now this book also partially follows the Chase family and their diabolical deeds as well as the different officers who are working on the case of mutilated slaves across the island. Like with his previous novel, Fields of Death, I would not call this story a mystery because from the get-go the reader already knows ‘who done it’. This book jumps between so many different point of views though. From William to the Chase family to the different officers and also Victoria. Were there too many POVs? Maybe. For me, it was just enough not to get confused.
My main issue was that sometimes these different POV’s didn’t really move the plot along (I’m looking at you, Hendrich!) so it just ended up being more to read for no reason but I wouldn’t burn the book over it. The story progressed at a well-enough pace.
The Chase vault is a local legend in Barbados, one that has remained a mystery over the centuries.
HOWEVER
I think this book is very relevant now despite it being based in colonial times. It’s been less than a year since Barbados’ triumphant break-away from the English monarchy or ‘the Crown’ as it is referred to in the story, into a new Republic. This book manages to show the relationship between Barbados and England in a time when they were still cemented firmly in colonialism. It is very much a historical piece. The reader can learn a lot about the state of Barbados, the way the island was run, and how the people there lived at that time. Also used as a penal colony, a LOT of the UK’s prisoners were dumped there and although it was one of the richest colonies at the time, Barbados was falling apart.
Barbados had 99 problems and slavery was just one of them! The atrocities of which were rotting the island from the core, and they were experiencing one rebellion after another, not just there but all over the Caribbean. It reminded me, that people forget the real reason slavery was abolished. It wasn’t because of the kindheartedness of the colonisers, finally seeing the light and the wrong in their ways. The abolitionists could have petitioned until they were blue in the face and slavery would have stayed right there because it was profitable. Even when it was abolished, for decades traders were still finding ways to bring slaves in.
Slavery ended because they could not realistically sustain it anymore. They could not continue to combat all these rebellions which were getting more intense and more frequent in nature. They knew at some point the slaves would figure out that they were in the majority, which is a fact their masters went to great lengths to hide from them. People just weren’t going to stay enslaved forever. Slave masters and plantation owners knew eventually that the slaves would rise up and they would lose, and Haiti was the proof. A smart businessman knows when to cut their losses and leave, and that’s the real reason slavery ended.
But before the slaves tasted their freedom, Barbados was a place to be banished if you found yourself on the wrong side of the law in Europe or in William’s case, on the wrong side of a vicious Baron who caught you getting frisky with his wife because this tale is also equal parts a romance. To the Dr.’s defense, it was completely consensual and the dear Baroness Victoria was the instigator, but boi, oh boi, woman getting man in trouble since the beginning of time AND man shooting theyself in their foot cause of woman, SINCE the beginning of time.
Your husband is LEAVING on a ‘business trip’. At least wait till he leave nah? That’s Rule #1! When your spouse is away, then you can play. Slip the hot doctor a note and have a secret rendevous after your husband is out of town. That so hard? I am in no way encouraging cheating on your husband. Please don’t say I say to do THAT, thank you. But like my grandfather used to say, if you stupid enough to get caught, you deserve the punishment. Wait…
But yeah, do people really not understand HOW to have a secret affair? Rule #2 Don’t frolic with the side squeeze in your house. That’s the one place you supposed to be. Sense! But you know, don’t say I SAY SO! You do wrong you will have to pay for it at some point cause karma is a bitch with a damn good memory.
But this is described as a romantic thriller and it did start with William and Victoria and ended with wrapping up their romantic plot. Between the vault and the killings, their relationship was the main plot thread throughout the story so I guess I agree. There was just so much violence, not in their relationship, just in the book in general, it didn’t feel like a romance to me. Having somebody’s death described in detail after a romantic scene kinda kills the mood.
But they did have their moments, William and Victoria, I’ll give them that. There was adequate love and just plain nonsense in their relationship to make the stew tasty. I was rooting for them, but they were two wrongs trying to make a right. Their relationship started off hot and steamy REAL FAST and after all the mess they made they deserve each other!
The true irony of this book though, for me, is how colonisers were most times STAUNCH churchgoers. That is probably the most hypocritical thing in existence. Like, you all burning down each other’s churches, cause ‘Catholics and Methodists bad, only Anglicans allowed here’, but YET you afraid of some coffins getting pitch around a tomb? God-fearing, my ass! Is that the REAL issue here? Let’s call a spade a spade. How about we consider your rearrangement of the commandment, ‘thou shalt not kill’ to ‘thou shalt not kill unless it’s a slave’!
But I think I’ve gotten past all my random thoughts…
I am not sure if I would read this book again. I’m on the fence. I’ve said before that books with slavery themes especially ones that have very gruesome depictions of it are not my cup of tea. I feel the collective trauma of my ancestors building up in me whenever I read books or watch movies around these topics. It’s the same as a Jewish person avoiding holocaust content. I wouldn’t say it’s triggering per se, but it is upsetting for me so I took my time reading this book. There were days when I didn’t read it at all because I was still recovering from a scene that deeply disturbed me. And this had a lot of random slave killings and torture. I feel like I could just skip those parts if I ever read it again, but I’ll see.
Now that doesn’t make it a bad book. I ain’t say that. On the contrary, the violence had a point as they were all in some way related to the killer, a folk character of Barbados who St. Cyr made vividly real. Or they were related to the Chase family, which tied back to the vault. I feel like the violence was also used to give the reader a reflection of the time period, to help create the setting, that things like this happened frequently back then, without reason or remorse. So there was a purpose, I just felt a kinda way about it. So just letting you know if that is something you want to avoid.
If you are looking for a historical thriller with a steamy romance plot and some infamous folklore legends, W St. Cyr spins a wild and haunting tale of the mysterious Chase vault and the devious killer out for… body parts? (I don’t want to give everything away, the book technically isn’t out yet), all played out during Barbados’ brutal history as a penal colony. Join the launch, which will be held at the Grand Salle, Central Bank in Barbados on 21st May 2022 from 5-8pm. This is an in-person launch, with full Covid protocols observed. I believe it will also be live-streamed, those links will be available closer to the date. Follow the author W. St. Cyr on Instagram for more information until then, and pick up your copy as soon as it is available.
– True Nicks, Caribbean Books Foundation
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