Review of Sophistries of Summer Days

[John Arun Kumar]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Sophistries of Summer Days" by Jenny Lofters.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Sophistries of Summer Days by Jenny Lofters is a work of fiction. Cherrimina’s life with her beloved mother and grandmother is closeted in her world of Nago land with its natural beauty. She falls in love with it. Her transition from childhood to adulthood is full of unexpected twists and turns of various sorts - identity, gender, race and caste issues, murder, fire accident, suicide, war emergency, adoption, and love for people and place. A chance meeting with a strange visitor from the US begins a tale of friendship and love of sorts with its bittersweet moments crossing borders. Not knowing who her father is leaves her with a lot of identity issues. However, this time it takes her to discover the painful truth. It introduces her to the life of different sorts across cultures - American, French, Indian, and Syrian. "When we need to find God, he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence." At one point, Cherrimina wonders. "Some of the most powerful bodies in this world work in silence; the stars, the moon, and the sun, they move in silence." Perhaps, this is the sort of story of many young lives in the Nago land of the Caribbean. Set in the nineteen hundreds, it captures life and times so vividly.

Born and raised on a Caribbean island and now living in New Jersey, Jenny Lofters loves the West Indies and its history and culture. Creatively weaving the story, she has written it in the first person, makes the fiction down to earth and gives it a touch of real-life experience. She has used her knowledge of local dialect, idioms, expressions and spirituality to good effect. She makes the characters come alive on these pages.

I did not find anything that I disliked. Because the narrative is in the first person, it brings its limitation to understand the reality of the situation of Cherrimina. A bit unsettling at times because it leaves the reader some things not clear. Perhaps, this is how it is with each of our lives.

The book is well-written and professionally edited. I did not find any typos. I will give it a four out of four.

This fiction might interest young adults and those who enjoy reading about cultures and times in the past.

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Sophistries of Summer Days
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[markodim721]

Jenny Lofters managed to combine many elements such as Caribbean culture in a very convincing way in the book. Thanks for the good review.

[Daniel-Davis]

This story reminds me of Ace Combat, the video game (Flying various planes into combat missions to recon or blow stuff up). Them flying a B25 on a rescue mission is on course with the way Ace Combat plays.

[Daniel-Davis]

This story reminds me of Ace Combat, the video game (Flying various planes into combat missions to recon or blow stuff up). Them flying a B25 on a rescue mission is on course with the way Ace Combat plays.

[Hyacinth Bella]

What a lovely review you got here! I think I would be reading this one soon. Based on your review, I feel like this would be an adorable but also heartfelt historical fiction novel that I would dearly love.