Brothers and Sisters Around the World - Andrea Lee

I absolutely loved this piece of writing. For several reasons.

Firstly the imagery was great.  I though Lee did a fantastic job of painting a picture of what the island life was really like. Even in simple mentionings of the mango trees, or "behind the garden stretch fields of sugar cane and groves of silvery arthritic-looking ylang-ylang trees," gives the reader a strong visual of what Madagascar is like (Lee, 37). As I read the piece I could perfectly imagine the hot-sticky humidity and tropic air, it was very vivid.

On a different note I love the character of Hadijah. The Mother, the healer, the queen-of-sorts of the island. Though she isn't mentioned very often or closely examined in the text, she has such a presence about her that she stood out most to me out of all the characters in this piece. "To say she has presence is an understatement.  She got married when she was thirteen, and is now, after eight children, an important personage, the matriarch of a vast and prosperous island clan. She and I have got along fine ever since she realized that I wasn't going to horn in on her despotic rule..." (Lee, 40). The "queenly housekeeper" demands the respect and attention from those around her (Lee, 37).  I find her both fascinating and intimidating. Loving, but harsh. Aged, but witty. Though her actual presence in the text is very minor, I find her to be one of the most captivating and intriguing characters in the story.

The theme of the story is very interesting, yet puzzling. What I got from it was that there is a sisterly bond connecting women across the world. Women who have grown up in completely different cultures, socio-economic statuses, speak different languages… There is a feminine bond that pulls us all together on a deeper understanding of one-another, that is there without even addressing it in words. After the confrontation between Madame and the two girls, they seem to discover this bond, having broken the initial walls between them. “The formal greeting conveys an odd intimacy. It is clear that we are breathing the same air, now, that we have taken each other’s measure,” (Lee 41). After this it seems, there will be room for a relationship to blossom between them. “The curiosity of sisters separated before birth and flung by the caprice of history half a world away from each other.  Now in this troublesome way our connection has been established, and between my guilt and dawning affection I suspect that I’ll never get rid of these two. Already in my mind is forming an exasperating vision of the gifts I know I’ll have to give them…all of them extracted from me with the tender ruthlessness of family members anywhere,” (Lee, 42). I find this passage so beautifully written. It is mysterious yet conveys the unspoken bond between these three women, the bond that exists between women across the world.

This is how I pictured the two girls under the mango tree.

And the woman on the right is how I pictured Hadijah