Hold

Posted on by

Moving between Ghana and London, Hold is an intimate, moving, powerful coming of age novel It s a story of friendship and family, shame and forgiveness of learning what we should cling to, and when we need to let go.Belinda knows how to follow the rules As a housegirl, she has learnt the right way to polish water glasses, to wash and fold a hundred handkerchiefs, and to keep a tight lid on memories of the village she left behind when she came to Kumasi.Mary is still learning the rules Eleven years old and irrepressible, the young housegirl in training is the little sister Belinda never had.Amma has had enough of the rules A straight A pupil at her exclusive South London school, she has always been the pride of her Ghanaian parents Until now Watching their once confident teenager grow sullen and wayward, they decide that sensible Belinda might be just the shining example Amma needs.So Belinda is summoned from Ghana to London, and must leave Mary to befriend a troubled girl who shows no desire for her friendship She encounters a city as bewildering as it is thrilling, and tries to impose order on her unsettling new world.As the Brixton summer turns to Autumn, Belinda and Amma are surprised to discover the beginnings of an unexpected kinship But when the cracks in their defences open up, the secrets they have both been holding tightly threaten to seep out.From Read Hold by Michael Donkor – kino-fada.fr 3.5 stars to House Girl .5Housegirl is set in both Ghana and London and is the story of two teen girls facing the life expanding challenges often associated with coming of age Belinda is a rule follower, and as a housegirl, it is a blessing because she has to keep up with the details of running a household, according to her employers wishes One of the first rules Belinda has to forget her village and her early life Mary is 11 years old, and as a soon to be housegirl, she is still 3.5 stars to House Girl .5Housegirl is set in both Ghana and London and is the story of two teen girls facing the life expanding challenges often associated with coming of age Belinda is a rule follower, and as a housegirl, it is a blessing because she has to k...Hold is a coming of age story about a girl split between two worlds her life in Ghana and her life in London The story follows responsible Belinda as she is sent from her position of responsible house girl in Ghana where she lives with young Mary to become a chaperone style friend to wild child Amma in London and it shows the lasting impact these two have on Belinda s life Personally I found the book very hard to attain a foothold into It took u...I feel bad criticizing the work of an author, especially a debut novel, as it feels as though I m criticizing someone s newborn child However, I have to remind myself of the fact that I devoted a few hours of my life that I can never get back reading said book, and it in that respect it all evens out anyhow.The pidgin broken English in this book is HORRIBLE Almost unbearable, really The dialogue sounds as though it was imagined by a WASP who has never set foot outside of their home country, a I feel bad criticizing the work of an author, especially a debut novel, as it feels as though I m criticizing someone s newborn child However, I have to remind myself of the fact that I devoted a few hours of my life that I can never get back reading said book, and it in that respect it all evens out anyhow.The pidgin broken English in this b...The two of them Amma, Mary in their own, very different ways , in their different times and places, had made Belinda think and laugh so hard Michael Donkor s excellent debut novel Hold is set in Ghana and South East London It opens in December 2002 with 17 year old Belinda grieving at a traditional funeral in Ghana, but then travels back 9 months to find Belinda working, for the previous 6 months, as a house girl in Daban, Kumsai, for a wealthy couple, who she knows as Aunty and Uncle, alThe two of them Amma, Mary in their own, very different ways , in their different times and places, had made Belinda think and laugh so hard Michael Donkor s excellent debut novel Hold is set in Ghana and South East London It opens in December 2002 with 17 year old Belinda grieving at a traditional funeral in Ghana, but then travels back 9 months...The prologue opens at the funeral of an unidentified person, lodging a question in the back of the reader s mind as the events of earlier that year 2002 unfold in the rest of the book.Belinda and Mary are housegirls in the home of a wealthy Ghanaians couple who, following custom, the girls refer to as Aunty and Uncle Personally, I would have likedbackground about the role and employment legal status of housegirls in Ghanaian society to help me understand better the relationship B The prologue opens at the funeral of an unidentified person, lodging a question in the back of the reader s mind as the events of earlier that year 2002 unfold in the rest of the book.Belinda and Mary are housegirls in the home of a wealthy Ghanaians couple who, following custom, the girls refer to as Aunty and Uncle Personally, I would have likedbackground about the role and employment legal status of housegirls in Ghanaian society to help me understand better the ...DNF Life is too short to indulge in books that make you mad I m sure this novel probably gets better when the characters are in London, but I can t keep on reading to get to that point The dialogue is a mockery insult to Ghanaians I m sure the clueless white editors had a jolly ol time fixing the dialogue to make the housegirl characters speak broken english , but its a terrible, terrible attempt I really like Donkor, but this book ultimately gave me a headache and I can t come and die DNF Life is too short to indulge in books that make you mad I m sure this novel probably gets better when the characters are in London, but I can t keep on reading to get to that point The dialogue is a mocke...Belinda is the lead protagonist of this novel that never really hits a higher gear It s like being in a car riding on a flat land and never shifting out of first gear There are no scary turns, no dangerous hills, no steep climbs, just miles of flat terrain The novel just moves along telling Belinda s story as a house girl in Ghana who gets sent to London, not as a house girl but to act as a friend to a girl called Amma, who is going through some tough times The story has no sizzle and withou Belinda is the lead protagonist of this novel that never really hits a higher gear It s like being in a car riding on a flat land and never shifting out of first gear There are no scary turns, no dangerous hills, no steep climbs, just miles of flat terrain The novel just moves along telling Belinda s story as a house girl in Ghana who gets sent to London, not as a house girl but to act as a friend to a girl called Amma, who is going through some tough times The story has no sizzle and without any thrills along the way it was hard to maintain a sustained interest in Belinda or anyone else I found myself thinking, okaaay , on several occasions, wanting , needingBut the flatness of the terrain remained consistent throughout the book There was a brief bump with Amma s struggles that could have provided a respite from first gear but it was quickly smoothed over and never explored d...Belinda, seventeen, and Mary, eleven, are servant girls for a well to do retired couple in Kumasi, Ghana Amma, also seventeen, is a British Ghanaian girl living in London she used to be such a good daughter, but lately something s gotten into her, she s been moody, at best uncommunicative and at worst full of rude cheekiness , to use her mother s words Amma s parents are friends with Belinda and Mary s employers, and, impressed with what they hear and see of Belinda s diligence and politenes Belinda, seventeen, and Mary, eleven, are servant girls for a well to do retired couple in Kumasi, Ghana Amma, also seventeen, is a British Ghanaian girl living in London she used to be such a good daughter, but lately something s gotten into her, she s been moody, at best uncommunicative and at worst full of rude cheekiness , to use her mother s words Amma s parents are friends with Belinda and Mary s employers, and, impressed with what they hear and see of Belinda s diligence and politeness, and how good she s been at guiding younger,boisterous Mary, they have an idea to bring Belinda to live with them in London, so she can figure out what s going on with Amma and help fix her Belinda doesn t really have a choice in the matter, so off she goes But how will Mary cope without her best friend How will Amma react to this best friend that her parents are forci...Hold is a moving, funny, and sad novel about friendship, shame, forgiveness, and growing up, that is set between Ghana and London The protagonist is Belinda, a housegirl who moved from her village to Kumasi when the chance came She works alongside Mary, a spirited eleven year old who became the sister Belinda never had, until Belinda is summoned to London to try and bring Amma out of her shell Amma is a straight A student who lives in south London with her Ghanian parents, but recently she ha Hold is a moving, funny, and sad novel about friendship, shame, forgiveness, ...I enjoyed reading this book It s not earth shattering and there really aren t any tense highs or lows , but to be honest, I m starting to enjoy this kind of book a lotthan the other kind.I enjoyed the technically similar, but conflicting characters of Belinda and Amma two young women of a similar age, from in some ways the same place with completely different experiences, thoughts and ways of moving through life I found the development of their friendship and the way they interacted I enjoyed reading this book It s not earth shattering and there really aren t any tense highs or lows , but to be honest, I m starting to enjoy this kind of book a lotthan the other kind.I enjoyed the technically similar, but conflicting characters of ...

Hold
  • English
  • 25 October 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 320 pages
  • 0008280347
  • Michael Donkor
  • Hold