I doesn’t have woman friends. Woman deceitful, my mother used to say. You can’t trust them. And every man I ever had discourage me from making too much friend.” The tale of Alethea is not an easy one, it is profoundly complex, deeply moving and unabashedly real. With themes such as rape, incest, child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, misogyny, murder, colourism, racism, among many more, the book is a reflection of the world we live in, told with a frankness that is not exclusionary or accusatory, simply fact. Allen-Agostini does not dawdle and launches into the monstrosity of Allie’s domestic life right away. There is no way to blunt the edges of domestic abuse and the author does not try to either. Allie’s boyfriend, Leo (a good-looking musician who can be quite charming), is her abuser. The silence in which she suffers the previous night’s blows is jarring to read. Lisa Allen-Agonisti writes the story in Trinidadian Creole which had me immersed in the story, the characters and island life. I wanted to know everything about Alethea’s current life, past and future. The linking of the characters and the transitions between past and present are brought together so seamlessly to create a well fleshed out and satisfying read.

Overcome by confusion and despair, Allie retreats into herself. In spite of her reclusiveness, none of her friends abandons her. When they throw her an impromptu birthday party, Allie is filled with gratitude. While out all together celebrating, Leo proposes and Allie accepts.There are also some surprising revelations and occurrences in the story which make it a thoroughly dramatic and engrossing read. At one point, Alethea wryly comments that her life has more twists than a soap opera. Yet, I fully bought her character because her distinct personality and the tone of her Trinidadian voice felt so real. At times this meant the narrative became a little too overloaded with her recounting small unnecessary details. However, it also allows her space to reflect and point to larger issues such as colourism on the island: “Is still a kind of racial, colour-conscious place where people who look like me does get through when people who look like he doesn't get one shit.” The way in which people who have different skin tones are treated in subtly different ways was also skilfully incorporated into the story. It presents a complex portrait of a community. But the focus of this novel is always centred on Alethea herself. By the end of the book I became aware of how something as simple as her choice of surname could become so loaded with deeper implications and meaning. It's a moving depiction of one woman's difficult journey to independence. Lisa Allen-Agostini is a marvel and well-deserving of her place on the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022 shortlist, if not taking the top prize itself. What she has created in The Bread the Devil Knead is a gateway for victims to be heard, seen, and understood.

As if somehow is a normal thing for a man to beat a woman. Yet it not normal for a woman to stay with a man who is beating she? If is the woman fault for staying, not the man fault for lashing she, beating woman come normal, then.” The Bread the Devil Knead is Allie’s story. She could very well be one of the many women we find around ourselves – confident and ambitious at work while they get battered at home and lead a dangerous domestic life. More than Allie, the book reveals society’s relationship with domestic abuse and how women bear the responsibility for it. Domestic violence is universal – only the statistics vary from region to region. Yet, when one is at the receiving end of it, the numbers and statistics blur into each other. It does not matter that you are just one of the many – as is the case with any misfortune, the enormity of such a situation seems incomprehensible. A triumph of language The hardest part of this reflection, unsurprisingly, is the devastating depiction of child sexual abuse, which defined Alethea’s childhood and informed her life for decades to come. Whilst the instinct of many readers, and society more broadly, is often to look away, or to skim past the unpalatable truth, the reality is that it is that very instinct which creates the environment within which such abuse can be perpetuated with impunity. That is why stories like these are incredibly important to bring such issues into the light and into mainstream discourse. Not only does it give voices to survivors, but it increases awareness of the sheer prevalence of child sexual abuse and the urgent need to do more to combat it. An extraordinary and emotionally immersive novel – the music of Lisa Allen-Agostini's writing voice is gloriously specific to Trinidad, yet this heart-wrenching story of a woman both liberated and in need of liberation has universal resonance.'— Margaret Busby.Colin helps Allie recover in the aftermath of Leo's death. After the funeral, he takes her to his friend Sister Michael Pierre's retreat center for trauma survivors. Michael encourages Allie to write about her past and her trauma. In doing so, Allie finds healing and renewal. Colin tells Allie one day that their grandmother Ma left them her house in Valencia. Allie is initially thrilled to finally have something of her own. However, when she, Colin, and Leo visit the house together, she starts to feel differently. While at the house, Colin reveals that Mammie and Allan had an incestuous relationship and Allie is their child. The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Allen-Agostini, Lisa. The Bread the Devil Knead. Myriad Editions, 2021. While admiring Jerry's display, Allie, Jerry, and Tamika see a woman named Carol George running through the street and screaming. Her abusive husband chases, shoots, and kills her. When police arrive, they kill the husband. The scene haunts Allie, but she does not want to believe her situation is anything like Carol's. When Allie is 17 years old, she runs away from home. She is sad to leave Colin, but feels she has no other choice. She relies upon her friend Jankie for help and support.

In The Bread the Devil Knead, we meet Allie. Confident and ambitious, she portrays an exterior of success while harboring a dangerous secret about her domestic life. This is an engaging read that digs deep into our society’s relationship with domestic abuse and uncovers a path to redemption. Allen-Agostini has said she writes Caribbean stories for Caribbean people and this book undoubtedly belongs to them. As a white reader living in London, this was an education on the wonder of Trinidad and Tobago. Alive with colour, warmth, and vibrance, island life is a stark contrast to rainy old England but the darkness that lives on Trinidad, lives here too.

The novel reveals society’s relationship with this form of abuse and how women bear the blame and responsibility for it.

In the dramatic conclusion, Allen-Agostini leaves us with some hope. As she said to me, “I would like readers to take away that we can be redeemed and that we can grow beyond our histories.” We meet characters who have found ways to break the cycle of violence in their lives, and Allie begins on a road to healing. Her path–or at least aspects of it–may suggest useful options to the large numbers of men and women in unhealthy or abusive relationships. Alethea’s voice is strong and distinct from the outset; she’s passionate, no nonsense and independent. One of my favourite storylines was seeing how she reconnects with both Colin and her old school friend Jankie, and how her friendship develops with her colleague Tamika. These are necessary surprises she wasn’t expecting; she starts to open up, let people into her life and realise she can be happy and importantly, that she deserves it. Finally, I loved the fact that the book is written in Trinidadian Creole, which made the reading experience so immersive and rooted in place and culture. Alethea’s voice comes through as authentic. I enjoyed looking up various words and phrases and their history, and now wish I had the audiobook to fully understand how Allen-Agostini’s prose was meant to be heard. The descriptions of the landscape, the sun, the heat, the smell of roti, and the crowds dancing to soca at a fete carried me overseas, as all good fiction should. Allie refuses to meet up with Colin in spite of his repeated attempts to do so. Once she finally agrees, she regrets her decision. Colin not only sees her bruises, but brings up Mammie and Allan. She flees the lunch prematurely, afraid of discussing the truth. I really want to avoid spoilers in this review, but I will warn readers that this is not an easy read – on the one hand, I could not put it down, wanting to start the next chapter as soon as I finished the last and on the other, I found the portrayal of violence and abuse in it really tough to get through, making it a really harrowing read. Pacing yourself is essential here, but don’t let that discourage you as the author’s ability to balance pain and humour is truly impressive and makes this an outstanding read.

I never meet a man yet who wouldn’t horn you if you give he a chance, but maybe that was just me. I is a bad-man magnet, I does tell myself sometimes.” At Fire Fete the next day, everything is calm until Leo gets into a fight with Allie's friends Curtis and Sugars. Leo then pulls out a gun and points it at Allie. Police intervene, shooting and killing Leo. The plot is gripping from the outset, and Allen-Agostini perfectly draws the reader into the ever-present tension of trying to anticipate how Alethea’s story will end. There is a constant foreboding lingering over her interactions with Leo and his influence over her relationships with others, even when he is not there, epitomises the fraught tightrope that many must walk on a daily basis in abusive relationships. With such an interesting and complicated character in Alethea, you can’t help but to root for her along her journey of discovering why her life turned out the way it has. I particularly enjoyed reading about her finding and connecting with her long-lost brother, Colin. Their relationship is not easy and has a complicated history, but their rekindling is so meaningful and joyful once they are able to reconnect. Her relationship with him, and with old and new friends, shows not only the importance of support in abusive relationships, but how much strength it takes from the individual victims, regardless of these support systems. However, Allie does not let it affect her and sets off for work as if nothing had transpired just a few hours before. Though she is aware that this is not, cannot, be love, she defends Leo when her coworkers suggest that she should seek legal counsel. This is frustrating for the reader but anyone who’s been a victim of domestic abuse or knows anyone who has, knows this to be all too true. The veneer of happiness and dignity becomes a defence mechanism.

Now, this certainly wasn’t an easy read; the realities of the protagonist, Alethea, living in Trinidad and Tobago dealing with abuse from her partner Leo and childhood trauma is harrowing. Themes of physical and mental abuse, incest, colourism, and death surround her story, alongside having an affair with her boss it is clear she is keeping busy and “dealing” with her situation to the best of her abilities. Lisa Allen-Agostini has created a tale that is full of violence and pain, but also light and hopeful – the relationships feel fully formed and familiar, and the setting of Trinidad makes the story pulse with excitement and heat. The use of Trinidadian Creole throughout the book was brilliant as it really situates the story in a specific place and made the characters feel authentic. We had the honour of hearing the author read an excerpt from the book (a carnival scene that has really made me want to experience a Trinidadian carnival one day) and in her voice, with the Trinidadian accent, it made the scene come alive!