Book review… A narrative as puzzling as it is inviting

Dec 22, 2019 Book Review…, News

Party – A Mystery
Author: Jamaica Kincaid
Illustrator: Ricardo Cortes
Critic: Glenville Ashby, PhD

‘Party – A Mystery’ is a highly interpretive children’s book. In as few words as illustrations, Jamaica Kincaid delivers a cryptic work that befuddles and taxes the best among us.

The book cover of Party – A Mystery

This abstruse narrative features three girls ascending elevated steps allowing them a panoramic view of a festive event, ‘a party celebrating the publication of the first of the Nancy Drew mystery books.’
“I like looking down from the tops of stairs at people who are just milling about,” said Pam, ignoring her companions and dashing up the stairs two at a time.”
From a vantage point, they gaze; their fascination of the proceedings is ephemeral. With alarm and consternation, Pam sounds the alarm. ‘Look!” she exclaimed in a soft but hoarse whisper.”
Bess reacts, “her eyes growing large and her face turning a ghostly white, then a vivid red.”
Then the incredulity, in tandem. “But it can’t be,” said Pam
“I don’t believe it,” said Bess.
But their friend Sue is lost in the back and forth exchange.
“What?” she asked, repeatedly, this time with a small stamp of the foot.
Indignation follows.
“How vile!” said Pam.
“How vile, to say the least!” said Bess.
“How bilious!” said Pam.
“How bilious indeed!” said Bess.
Sue, still, is none the wiser.
“Shall we?” asked Pam, turning to Bess and grabbing her almost roughly by the shoulders.
“Shall we? Shall we?” said Bess.
Sue chimes in: “Shall we what?”
Before she could muster a response, Pam, “locked in indecision, turned back to whatever it was that had caught her attention so firmly before…” She utters, bewildered, “It’s gone, Oh dear! It’s gone.”
In the vein of Nancy Drew, Kincaid’s narrative is as puzzling as it is inviting. We searchingly look for answers, answers difficult to come by. Solving a mystery at times requires more than instinct. In some cases, sleuth-like attributes are needed, none more so than a photographic memory and perspicacity. Such is the case here. Clearly, the illustrations hold the key. Or maybe, Kincaid couches a more metaphysical message in this mundane carapace.
We may not solve the puzzlement on the first go, but pry deeper and – in a jiffy – the answer might come, awaking the ‘Nancy Drew,’ or the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ that resides in all of us.

Publisher: Black Sheep/Akashic Book, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Hi Words© 2109 Jamaica Kincaid
Illustrations © 2019 Ricardo Cortes
ISBN: 978-1-61775-716-7
Available at Amazon
Ratings: Recommended

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)

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