Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022
'An extraordinary and emotionally immersive novel – the music of Lisa Allen-Agostini’s writing voice is gloriously specific to Trinidad, yet this heart-wrenching story of a woman both liberated and in need of liberation has universal resonance.'—Margaret Busby.
‘Strips you down to raw nerve to build you back up again. Allen-Agostini has an unswerving eye.’—Nalo Hopkinson
‘You dip into the first page and don’t come up for breath until the last… thoroughly enjoyable.’—Kei Miller
Alethea Lopez is about to turn 40. Fashionable, feisty and fiercely independent, she manages a boutique in Port of Spain, but behind closed doors she’s covering up bruises from her abusive partner and seeking solace in an affair with her boss. When she witnesses a woman murdered by a jealous lover, the reality of her own future comes a little too close to home.
Bringing us her truth in an arresting, unsparing Trinidadian voice, Alethea unravels memories repressed since childhood and begins to understand the person she has become. Her next step is to decide the woman she wants to be.
A propos de l’auteur
LISA ALLEN-AGOSTINI is a writer, editor and stand-up comedian from Trinidad and Tobago. The Bread the Devil Knead is her first adult novel. She has written four Young Adult novels, including Home Home, winner of a CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature. She writes and performs stand-up comedy as 'Just Lisa' with her company Fem Com TT.