Nalo Hopkinson
Brown Girl in the Ring (1998)
Author: Nalo Hopkinson
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Plot Summary:
Magic mixes with dystopian themes in a Toronto of the near future. Toronto has become a "donut hole city"--the upper class has abandoned the city and taken its infrastructure with them. The coalescence of suburban sprawl and urban decay has created a barricaded inner-city, called "the burn," in which the poor and people of color must reinvent their world without the modern trappings of capitalism. People barter and farm for sustenance and turn to herbs for health care. The rich can still afford hospital care, but organ transplants are provided from pigs. A prominent politician in the suburbs is in dire need of a heart-transplant and uses this as an election ploy to get voters excited about the prospect of reinstating voluntary human organ donors. Against this backdrop, a fantastical story with voodoo at its forefront emerges. Ti-Jeanne is a young mother who lives with her herbalist and voodoo practicing Mami in the burn. Mami has always disapproved of Tony, Ti-Jeanne's estranged ex-lover, but his buff (crack-like drug) addiction and involvement in a drug ring ruled by a duppy (an evil spirit from Caribbean folklore) provides an avenue to reconciliation when Tony seeks Mami and Ti-Jeanne's aid in escaping the burn. The drug lords are recruited to find the politician a heart transplant and Tony is blackmailed to find a match and commit murder to obtain the organ. Ti-Jeanne must not only save Tony from the drug lords, but must protect her family as well. This mission turns into a story riddled with generations of family connections, Caribbean folklore, voodoo, and mystery. SPOILER: Ti-Jeanne realizes that her grandfather is the leader of the drug gang and has maintained a youthful appearance through the years by feeding the blood of street children and other poor souls to his duppy pot. In this pot, the spirit of Ti-Jeanne's estranged mother and mother's lover are trapped. Ti-Jeanne must out-magic her own kin in order to get her mother back and free Tony from the grip of the drug lords.
Geographical Setting: Toronto, Canada
Time Period: Near Future
Appeal Characteristics:
Brown Girl in the Ring is a deliberately paced, engrossing read. The characters are vivid and likable, but take a back-seat to the action when necessary. This makes for a storyline that is both character- and action-oriented. The tone is somewhat bleak with its emphasis on dystopian themes and the misuse of traditional magic. Hopkinson’s writing style is frank and direct and the story takes place over the course of a few days, which makes it a quick read. The dialogue is mostly written in patois, a creole dialect, which adds authenticity to the novel’s African Diasporic themes and traditions. These references to Caribbean folktales, lore, and magic frame the story and add ethnic and multicultural dimensions to a genre somewhat unaccustomed to such motifs. More generally, she explores themes of identity and marginalization. For these reasons, Brown Girl in the Ring is a refreshing addition to the Science-Fiction/Fantasy genre. Hopkinson won the Locus magazine award in 1999 for best first Science-Fiction novel.
Read-alikes: Readers that enjoyed Brown Girl in the Ring will also not want to miss another of Hopkinson’s work, Midnight Robber. Sixteen year old Tan-Tan murders her father who impregnated her and must flee from her Caribbean colony on the planet of Toussaint to the land of exiles, New Half-Way Tree. This book will seem comfortably familiar to readers of Hopkinson’s first novel, with its strong female character that must come to terms with herself in order to survive. The elements of Caribbean culture and folklore are also heavy in this novel, as well as elements of magic made more believable through their juxtaposition with everyday situations. Hopkinson has spearheaded a place in the sci-fi/fantasy genre for third world writers and writers of color with her short story anthologies So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy and Mojo: Conjure Stories. These make good readalikes for readers who enjoyed Hopkinson’s emphasis and treatment of tradition, ethnic and multicultural themes, and magical elements. Another anthology that focuses on African-American Science-Fiction stories is Sheree Thomas' Dark Matter: Reading the Bones. The themes of race and ethnicity and the sociopolitical commentary of these stories will appeal to fans of Hopkinson's novel, but some of the stories are older and the writing style is not as immediate or direct as Hopkinson's. Another good follow-up might be found with Octavia E. Butler’s first book in her Parable series, Parable of the Sower. Set in California in 2025 adolescent Lauren must flee her home when her community is overrun by criminals. A steadfast believer in her philosophy/religion Earthseed, Lauren sets out to create a new community based on her beliefs. Readers will recognize a strong and black female character that must struggle against great odds to maintain her survival. The futuristic setting and focus on the character’s emotions will be appealing to those that liked Hopkinson’s novel. For example, Lauren has a genetic disorder that makes her feel the pain of others near her, much like Ti-Jeanne’s ability to see the future make the emotions of the main characters central to the stories. Much Hopkinson, Butler’s work is more focused on the literary rather than the more technical details sometimes found in science fiction. Even with its elements of horror the magical/mystical quality of Tananarive Due’s first novel in the Life Brother series, My Soul to Keep, makes it a good read-alike suggestion. Investigative reporter Jessica thinks her perfect life with her perfect husband is almost too good to be true, and it turns out she’s right. Her husband David, or Dawit, sold his soul over 400 years ago for the gift of immortality. David is determined to get immortality for his wife and daughter no matter what the cost. Well-developed and realistic characters combined with roots in African heritage and culture are similar appeal elements that may attract readers. Entitled as a ‘fantasy for technophiles’ Emma Bull’s Bone Dance also contains elements of voodoo and the occult. The androgynous main character Sparrow who lives in post-apocalyptic Minnesota gets caught in the middle of a fight between the telepaths responsible for Armageddon. Though not as fast-paced, this novel also shares a focus on conversational dialogue and the characters and their relationships with each other. Trash Sex Magic by Jennifer Stevenson is a decidedly strange novel about trailer park prostitutes with a mystical connection to environmental powers. Roedawn Somershoe and her mother Gelia are trailer park prostitutes that find their community threatened by a developer that wants to turn their trailer park into river side condos. Readers will recognize the same sort of grit and magical qualities present in this book, as well as strong, well-developed and just weird enough female main characters. Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren makes a good readalike in terms of setting and themes explored--similar themes to Brown Girl are gender, race, class, and identity. Delany explores a futuristic midwestern city in which the young and the poor live in the devastated streets and struggle to maintain their identity. A less earthly novel that contains similar appeal elements to Hopkinson's would be The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe, a coming-of-age novel in which clones and space colonies complicate matters of identity. This novel explores similar themes of family and estrangement.
Red Flags: Some violence, strong language, voodoo/magic themes, implied sexual situations.
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