I loved this book and was enthralled with the writing. I loved the character study. Would read more from the author!

'Reinbou' is a Spanish novel written by Pedro Cabiya, a widely read writer of Puerto Rican origin, living in the Dominican Republic. The novel, which is set during the Dominican Civil War of 1965, was originally written in 2017 and subsequently adapted into a feature film. The English translation by Jessica Powell is published only in 2024. I received a review copy from the publisher, Astra Publishing House, through Netgalley in exchange for honest feedback.

A narrator, the identity of whom is revealed only by the end, is narrating the story of a father and a son to presumably two kids. The father fought in the Civil War of 1965 with the 'constitutionalists' and was killed by the 'loyalists', with the backing of the US military. Years later, his son discovers how his father was killed by deception when he comes upon a series of clues preserved for him at the end of a rainbow (reinbou).

The novel employs an interesting narrational style. It follows a self-conscious narrator and an oral story-telling approach. We find a non-linear narration that flits between 1965 and 1976, alternating between the father's and the son's story. But as the POV is that of the narrator, which is obviously subjective, we never get inside them. We stay as outsiders throughout the story, always depending on the narrator to feed us the plot.

The writer uses the freedom that oral and subjective story telling provides to induce the plot with a lot of subtext and style. It also helps in giving the plot a mythical quality by letting in the biases and prejudices of the narrator. We are always aware of the absence of the real truth and have to be content with natural embellishments that penetrate a story that has already gone through more than one mouth.

The novel marries two different styles. On one side we find the story of the imaginative boy Angel Maceta, which has a fairy tale feel that is more reflective and aesthetic. On the other side, there is a tale of political intrigue, corruption, hyperviolence, and gore. The latter resembles a typical Tarantino movie (it even has a MacGuffin that closely resembles the one in Pulp Fiction). It was while reading the parts with action set pieces that I understood why a film adaptation was quickly made. Part of the book resembles a potboiler movie script and leaves nothing to the imagination of the reader.

Personally, I felt that combining these two genres lets the plot down in many places. The abrupt tonal shift didn't work for me. Another of my grumbles is about the minor characters. You don't find any detailing of these numerous ones that slide in and out of the story. When they are referenced later, we don't even remember them properly to connect them with the plot. One example is the character of a former ping pong player, who is referenced passingly while describing her mother, making an important intervention in the final act.

The effort by the translator is commendable. It takes a humongous effort to resist the temptation to convert certain original words and let them be so that the reader retains the feel of the locality and the history in which the story is set. Though there are certain elements that prevented me from enjoying 'Reinbou' to its fullest, I still had a good time reading it, thanks to the humor and the unique style of the writer.

What an utterly amazing novel. This was one of those "where have you been hiding" moments that I get very rarely. In the blurb it suggests the this novel is Dominicana crossed with Woman of Light. I've not read the latter but this book is nothing like Dominicana.

Reinbou is split into two timelines : 1965 when the revolution in the Dominican Republic was put down by the US, fearing a descent into a Communist state if the country was allowed to break free and 1976 where we meet Maceta (son of the revolutionary Puro who was killed by the US during the failed revolution).

The character of Maceta is that of a luminescent child. He brings joy to everyone in his orbit not least because he seems guided by something others don't possess. It's hard to describe Maceta without having a smile on my face. However none of the honest characters live easy lives. We explore each of their histories and the changes they undergo in 1976 which are all directly related to Maceta's fascination with the rainbows created by the sprinkler system at the US Army golf course.

We follow both timelines to the point where they coalesce at the point of Maceta's conception and his father's death. The story being told by Lucia, the love of Maceta's life, to her two very nosey and skeptical daughters.

I'm absolutely blown away by this translated novel that was originally published in 2017. To say that this book is less than 250 pages is so surprising because it feels that there's twice that much packed into such a slim volume.

Utterly entranced by this novel. Very highly recommended. Please read it (and if anyone knows where I can see the film adaptation please tell me).

Thankyou so much to Netgalley and Astra Publishing for an advance review copy. Most appreciated.

"But poverty is a revolving door. Not a day had passed before Inma’s old shack would be occupied again, this time by an even larger family . . . and they’d be cooking again in the wood stove under the shade of the tamarind tree, and the laundry hanging on the clotheslines would return and return and return and return. And when they leave, others will come, and others and others and others . . .

"For how long?

"No one knows."

An essential work of historical fiction about U.S. colonialism, intervention, and corruption in the Dominican Republic, and an incandescent translation by Jessica Powell. Highly recommended.