More watery fruit than meaty travelogue (An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude - Ann Vanderhoof)

Member Name: Pandora321

Product:	An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude - Ann Vanderhoof
Date:	23/03/09 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Might motivate you to set off on a grand adventure

Disadvantages: Not enough background to the islands - their history, culture etc.

An Embarrassment of Mangoes follows a Canadian couple, Ann Vanderhoof and her husband Steve, 40-somethings who decide to take time out from their hectic careers and sail around the Caribbean for a year... maybe more.

The intriguing title and idyllic blue cover caught my eye and, as a massive travel writing fan, I immediately picked it up. I don't know much about the Caribbean, so an armchair tour around the islands seemed like the next best option to actually getting out there myself (a slightly fund-limited option right now). The book started strongly, with evocative descriptions such as '...the hills on Hog Island are soft black silhouettes against a paler starlit sky the color of shark's skin' and 'The tables underneath hold carefully arranged pyramids of tomatoes and limes, bundles of elephant ear-like callaloo leaves, brilliant orange wedges sliced from monstrous green-skinned pumpkins'. I usually get quickly bored of long descriptive passages, but these held interesting metaphors and similes, transporting you to another world with profusions of lush island greenery and exotic fare.

The book comes with a handy map of the Vanderhoof's route, which was a good thing as the text does jump around their sailing timeline a bit - I'm good at geography, but I'll admit that my knowledge of the Bahamas, the Leeward and Windward Islands and the exact whereabouts of the Grenadines as opposed to St Martin is somewhat sketchy. I found it slightly confusing at times, therefore, when the storyline would jump forward or backwards to a different point in time, often initially referring back to the island merely by the people who lived on it. This would be fine if I had also lived on the island for 3 months, but keeping track of who lived where (and where this island is!) proved a little tricky at times for my liking.

Overall, the story was interesting, and at least the writers did interact with the locals and not just sit on their boat in Western splendour. Personally, though, I would also have preferred to learn a bit more about the Vanderhoof's themselves: why the Caribbean? What did they learn? How did they reacclimatise to life in the rat-race after so long in the laid-back Caribbean? The couple remain slightly enigmatic figures in the book, and there was not enough substance about them for me to become empathetic with them as the main characters, which was a shame.

The insight into the Bahaman and Caribbean history, culture and way of life was colourfully described in some passages, and disappointing lacking in detail on other islands. Perhaps too many different cultures were visited for in-depth descriptions of each in 350 pages, but it left me disappointed that more of what must be a historically interesting past, and a culturally diverse region, was not better related - I don't really know much more about it than when I started the book. It would also have been interesting to me personally to have had more discussion on the pros and cons of tourism in its many guises in this part of the world where, presumably, locals live in poverty next to the palatial tourist hotels and houses of Richard Branson and the like. Again, this wasn't really mentioned.

What was mentioned, in great detail, was food and cooking. There are lots of descriptions of shopping in the local markets, local delicacies, and local recipes - and the couple's dinner each evening. Clearly Ann Vanderhoof made this her 'unique selling point', which, if you share it, would probably be extremely interesting - there are even recipes at the end of most chapters. Sadly, I am not really a domestic goddess and unlikely to try to replicate 'Dingis's Curried Lobster' or 'Lower Woburn Stewed Lambi (conch)' anytime soon in my kitchen, so this was rather wasted on me. If you want to try Caribbean cooking though, perhaps this is a book for you.

In conclusion, this book is an ok read that should keep you mainly entertained, but is perhaps best left to food-junkies.

Summary: OK to read if you haven't got anything better on your shelves.