Book Review - Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas

 

Kalayla, the debut novel by Jeannie Nicholas, is a brilliant story about three people, a mother, a daughter and a neighbour, who bond as they struggle through life's difficulties. Kalayla is a cheeky eleven-year-old mixed-race girl, and she befriends septuagenarian Lena, who lives in the same apartment block. Kalayla is fascinated by Lena, who always dresses head to toe in black. Kalayla's mother, Maureen, is nearly thirty and is a single parent. Maureen works several jobs to keep a roof over her and Kalayla's heads, and when she is not at school, Kalayla is left to her own devices.

All three have secrets. Lena had four sons. She works part-time with one of them at the family business, her twin sons are dead, and there is one she is alienated from. Maureen is a widowed white girl who married a black man, and her family now will not have anything to do with her and has never seen Kalayla. Maureen has told Kalayla that they all died in an explosion at a family wedding! Furthermore, Kalayla tells her Mum that she spends most of her time at the library, but she is never there! 

Gradually as the story progresses, the secrets come out. Kalayla is an excellent book highlighting many issues, including domestic abuse, racism, prejudice, homophobia and family abandonment. Jeannie Nicholas's sensitive and thoughtful story tells how community and friendship improve lives as the relationship between these three very different people grows.

I loved everything about Kalayla, from the building friendship between Lena, Maureen and Kalayla to the gradual understanding of the lies they all tell and why. The book covers some dark subjects, but it is not without humour, e.g. page fifty-seven, "Now I was in the middle of an alphabet soup that was boiling over with letters I couldn't turn into words." This book is a real page-turner, and I felt like I was saying goodbye to a friend when I turned the last page.

There was nothing I disliked about Kalayla; it is a well-written and thoroughly enjoyable read, storytelling at its very best.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas is well-edited, I did not find any spelling or grammatical errors, and I loved reading this wonderful book!

Due to the relatively heavy topics covered, I would recommend this to an adult audience. I would recommend it to women because it is a story of friendship between 3 female characters, and it covers issues which mainly affect women.

Thank you to Jeannie Nicholas for a free copy of this book in exchange for an impartial review.