Review of Kalayla

[Winnrich]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Kalayla" by Jeannie Nicholas.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Kalayla is a fictional novel by Jeannie Nicholas set between 1999 and 2000 in the USA. It revolves around the lives of three women of different generations whose lives get interwoven as they grow to love and care for one another deeply, drawing strength and healing from one another consciously and unconsciously. Lena is an elderly widow in her seventies who picks interest in eleven-year-old Kalayla, who reminds her of her sons. Kalayla is an independent, witty, feisty, insolent and somewhat rebellious eleven year old who learned to take care of herself and look out for her mother at a very tender age. Her frequent visits to Eddie's eventually draw Lena's attention to her mother, Maureen. Maureen is a young widow who struggles to take care of her daughter alone after the death of her husband while hiding a big secret that could have a tremendous effect on Kalayla. In a bid to make a living for herself and her daughter Kalayla, she is always occupied with work thereby leaving Kalayla to her own devices. After learning about the mother and daughter who she discovers to not only be living in her property but directly across from her, Lena makes it a point of duty to be a positive force to them as she tries to help them while learning from her own past mistakes. In the process, she becomes a pillar of support and encouragement to the mother and daughter, receives healing for herself and earns grandmother status before Kalayla.

Kalayla is a soul-touching story about love, pain, hurt, healing and family ties. It is a very heart-warming story that makes readers understand that family goes beyond biological relations. It touches a lot of practical aspects of life including parenting and the different challenges that women often go through. It helps us realize that parents do not always know it all or have it all figured out. They can feel lost, confused, clueless and even make mistakes, as can be seen in the lives of Maureen and Lena. The story also emphasizes the importance of family in the life of every individual, as support from family can do a lot in providing a sense of safety and building strength to face life's challenges. The author also does a good job of addressing serious issues such as the effects of the loss of a loved one, abuse, racism etc. Although some of these issues are only mentioned moderately, they still add a lot of depth to the story. Kalayla is a very enlightening read and readers can learn a lot of life lessons from it.

I particularly appreciate the style employed by the author in writing the book. The use of the first-person narrative for the main characters added a lot of spice to the book and made it easy to relate to each of them. Each character tells an aspect of the story from their own point of view, providing the readers with vivid and explicit descriptions of events. Reading the story from the point of view of an elderly woman who has had years of experience gives off a sophisticated maturity in contrast to Kalayla's point of view. This really brings the story to life and helps the reader relate to and better understand the unique personality of each character. I also very much appreciate the simple diction employed by the author in writing the book. It made the book easy to understand and flow with.

In as much as I enjoyed the book, I however did not find the numerous profane words that occurred in various sections of the book very appealing, especially coming from a little girl like Kalayla. Aside from that, I found the story rather captivating and found no other issues with the book. The book was exceptionally well-edited as I didn't find any typographical or grammar errors.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because the author did an excellent job with character and theme development as well as with the manner of presentation. Kalayla is an awesome read and I recommend it to fans of emotional and heart-warming family-themed stories. However, I don't recommend it to very young readers due to the number of profanities mentioned in the book and to readers who may be triggered by sensitive and abusive scenes.

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Kalayla
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