Thursday, April 16, 2015

A little Caribbean folklore: The Jumbies




I can't afford to travel; therefore I read! This book took me to the Caribbean. How fun is that?

Thanks to Edelweiss I was allowed to get a sneak peak at a good book!

Fairytales, Folklore and Fables  allow us to believe in things beyond what our intuitive mind defines as normal. Tracey Baptiste allows her readers to enter into the world of the Caribbean in her interpretations of the Haitian Folklore, "The Magic Orange Tree." Baptiste creates her own dark and sinister character, Severine, to become the evil and corrupt leader of the Jumbies. Thanks to a fierce and brave young protagonist, Corinne, we are allowed to see goodness prevail despite the evils lurking in the dark forest beyond her house.

Once I had an understanding of the characters and read the afterward from the author, The Jumbies, was an excellent read! The setting is immediately established creating an atmosphere of darkness: the day is All Hallows Eve. This is the evening when the Jumbies are allowed to walk freely upon the island. The Jumbies are real beings who have dwelt on the island before man had declared possession, cut down the trees and limited the freedom of the Jumbies. Severine spots Corinne on All Hallows Eve and although humans haven't seen a Jumbie for years, Corinne also spies Severine. Along with the detailed setting, the characters are detailed and easy to imagine. They are creatures who come lurking in the night to scare children and Baptiste does an amazing job allowing these creatures to stay with you after you have finished reading the book! (The little men who have feet facing backward saying, "oh oh oh" while capturing the souls of young children are just one example of creepy!)  Corinne knows wickedness abounds, and as she does not seek trouble, trouble seems to seek Corinne. With the help of her new friends and a necklace given to her from her deceased mother, Corinne has to discover the magic within herself to help save the island from the evil Severine. 

No comments:

Post a Comment