Name: Cereus Blooms at Night
ISBN: 9780771001093

Shani Mootoo

FINALIST FOR THE GILLER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE ETHEL WILSON FICTION PRIZE Bold and lyrical, sensual and highly charged, Cereus Blooms at Night is the beautifully written, sensational first novel by Shani Mootoo, one of Canada’s most exciting literary voices. At the core of this haunting multi-generational novel are the shifting faces of Mala—adventurer and protector, recluse, and madwoman. Told by the engaging voice of Tyler, Mala’s vivacious male caretaker at the Paradise Alms House, Cereus Blooms at Night is layered with unforgettable scenes of a world where love and treachery collide.

Cereus Blooms at Night

Set on a fictional Caribbean island in the town of Paradise, Cereus Blooms at Night unveils the mystery surrounding Mala Ramchandin and the tempestuous history of her family. At the heart of this bold and seductive novel is an alleged crime committed many years before the story opens. Mala is the reclusive old woman suspected of murder who is delivered to the Paradise Alms House after a judge finds her unfit to stand trial. When she arrives at her new home, frail and mute, she is placed in the tender care of Tyler, a vivacious male nurse, who becomes her unlikely confidante and the storyteller of Mala's extraordinary life.In luminous, sensual prose, internationally acclaimed writer Shani Mootoo combines diverse storytelling traditions to explore identity, gender, and violence in a celebration of our capacity to love.

A Novel

Sarah Sammis

Cereus Blooms at Night is one of the most powerful and thought provoking books I've read this year. I wish I had finished it before the BTT question last week about obscenity in literature because it makes a good argument for when explicit scenes are needed in a book to tell a story.

Shani Mootoo wastes no words in Cereus Blooms at Night. Everything has a meaning and often more than one. The cereus of the title both refer to the cactus that grows in Mala's yard and to Mala's brief moment of true happiness before her life utterly falls apart.

The island of Lantacamara is named for a flower that now thrives throughout the world and is a popular garden flower for its hardy nature and appeal to butterflies (mariposa being Spanish slang for gays). As Otoh's mother explains: "every village in this place have a handful of people life you. And it is not easy to tell who is who." (page 238)

In the middle of all of this is Miss Ramchandin, a frail old woman accused of murder and dumped in the care of a charity nursing home. It is through the friendship of Tyler, one of Lantacamara's many butterflies, that Miss Ramchandin can finally tell her story.

Go read Cereus Blooms at Night and listen to Miss Ramchandin's story as it unfolds. Be prepared for strong themes and a harsh frankness but it is worth the discomfort.

Cereus Blooms at Night

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