A Silent Life

Aleyah Hassan explores the mystery that surrounds her grandmother, Nani, in this tale of cross-generational revolutionary politics. Aleyah learns that the now-silent Nani once had a great deal to say, bravely speaking on behalf of the sugar workers of their village in a time when Guyanese women did not speak out. As Aleyah grows up she begins to see herself in Nani's mold, and is torn between a promising academic career and the radical politics that once moved her grandmother to action. Throughout this novel, family secrets are portrayed with both social realism and poetic imagination, and themes of class, race, and gender are explored incisively.