Read Around the World June 2023: Grenada

Map link

June and we were off to the sunny Carribbean 

Fun facts about Grenada from this website

• Grenada is an island nation located in the West Indies of the Caribbean.
• The island probably takes its name from the Spanish city of Granada, with successive French and English interpretations resulting in present-day Grenada. In Spanish “granada” means “pomegranate”.
• Grenada was first sighted by a European on August 15, 1498, when Christopher Columbus sailed past the island without landing and named it Concepción.
• In 1651, Caribs committed mass suicide rather than surrender to Europeans after losing a battle. The islanders leapt off a cliff, now called Carib’s Leap or Leapers Hill, in Grenada’s northernmost town of Sauteurs
• Grenada is home to the world’s first underwater sculpture park. The Moliniere park has over 60 underwater sculptures located on the seabed around 15 feet (4.5m) below the surface.
• Grenada’s flag has a yellow and green diagonally divided background and a red border. It also features six yellow stars, a central star in a red disk and a nutmeg symbol. The green represents vegetation, the yellow is for wisdom and the sun and the red border symbolises harmony and unity. The seven yellow stars stand for the original administrative subdivisions of Grenada while nutmeg is one of the island’s chief products.
• The national dish of Grenada is ‘oil down,’ a hearty stew, made of local veggies, salted meat and aromatic spices.
• Grenada is home to four of the world’s seven varieties of turtle, including the leatherback – the largest species. Leatherbacks can grow up to 7 ft (2.1 metres) in length and weigh as much as 2,000 lbs (900kg).
• A local legend suggests that Grand Etang Lake is bottomless. Some locals maintain that those who drown in the lake reappear far away in St Vincent, Trinidad or Venezuela.
• Grenada is famous for its Carnival, also known as the Spicemas Festival.
• Grenada is well-known for its outstanding chocolate with the country home to acres of coca plantations. The most famous producer is the Grenada Chocolate Company which produces the Jouvay brand of chocolate.

I chose to visit Grenada via Angel by Merle Collins. Angel tells the story of a girl (Angel) growing up in Grenada between 1951 and 1983. The book starts with a revolution against white land owners and ends with the invasion of America after a successful revolution to dispose the dictatorial ruler “Leader” and to gain independence for the people.

Angel grows up during turbulent times and ends up as a revolutionary soldier however when those involved in the revolution begin to turn against each other Angel comes to question what and who she is actually fighting.

This was an interesting look at a time and place I had no idea about and was an educational read. At times the narrative felt heavy and clunky but overall I am pleased to have read this.

Other readers visited in the following ways:

Currey from Litsy – Pynter Bender by Jacob Ross rated a Pick.

Did you join us on our travels? Let us know what you read.

Next up Turkmenistan – this is a tough one so please share your reading plans.