Let me start by saying that memoirs are one of my top genres. I love reading about people's stories and deeply respect their ability and willingness to share them with the world.

Windward family had two or three memorable essays in it for me. These essays really stood out to me because of their writing and the powerful messages of the stories - stories of heartache, abandonment, and home. Other than these few sections of the book, I was not engaged with the main narrative or the side characters in the story.

The book jumps from past to future to past again and again, while not only following Keir's life but also others who have experienced similar life experiences at different times in history. Although it was a unique story structure that I hadn't read before, I found the insertion of other people's stories made it hard to follow. It didn't have a flow in the timeline or in the subject. The topics often changed between paragraphs in one essay. It felt choppy at times.

I had higher hopes for this memoir overall and I was disappointed. Nevertheless, I never regret reading someone's life story and I'm sure many people will benefit from his experiences.

Thank you to Net Galley & Thread Books for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Mixing memoir with historical biography, Windward Family charts the course of St Vincentian diaspora over the years through the lives of a few individuals. It's about place, identity and belonging, families both biological and found. It's a labour of love, and every word is heartfelt.

There are pockets of brilliance, but looking at the book as a whole, I struggled a little with the structure. The essays flit back and forth in time, sometimes covering the same themes and imagery; I wanted a stronger linear narrative to tie it all together. And while I loved the inclusion of the biographies, I found the fictive style they were written in jarring. It's a great premise, I just felt it needed a little more constructive editing to really tie it all together.

A very powerful and gripping story that is difficult to read in some parts but worth sticking with. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

'It took two decades for me to go in search of the parts of myself I had left behind in the Caribbean. What ghosts were waiting for me there? There was a thick, black journal in my flat, stuffed with letters, postcards, handwritten notes, and diary entries. For the first time in years, I opened it.'

Whilst facing his own history, and his families, the author also finds that he is not the only one who left his island of birth to find a different life. He explores their stories further and in these stories finds his own sense of self, his identity.

I fell in love with this story, I like the way it switched from one central character to another, telling their stories as they found their place in their chosen homeland and how this all came together in the authors own story.

The different locations were described to give each an individual feel and allowed you to build a clear picture of each place. I would highly recommend this book.

I really enjoyed this: A heartfelt insight into the author’s family history, intertwined with his fictional imagining of the lives of other members of the Vincentian diaspora.