The Wine of Astonishment

The Wine of Astonishment chronicles truthfully and vividly the tale of the persecution and perseverance of the Spiritual Baptist Faith in Trinidad from 1917 to 1951. History made available in the narrative - many may never read the history but many will read the story - the story is a true story. Lovelace's conversational narrative script offers easy reading and engages the reader's involvement in Wine as in his other works. His accurate use of the Trinidadian Creole displays the natural beauty and unique nuances of the language. His narrative explores the perceptions of the characters from his omniscient author perspective and brings to life the value and the power of faith in God. His is not a fictional or isolated tale of an individual or make-believe community; his is the chronicling of a dark time in the history of a nation when a people's freedom of worship was denied them by misuse of the very laws that enshrined such freedom. It is the recounting of the triumph of faith when the Prohibition Law of 1917 was repealed in 1951 and the Spiritual Baptists were free to ring the bell for freedom. My Faith - Spiritual Baptist Christian

The voice of this narrator is exquisite. It rings with poetry and art. This author has crafted his character’s stories so beautifully that you can’t help but crawl into their skins. Bolo leaves you loving him and hating him until you’re exhausted with it.

The Wine of Astonishment is a magnificently crafted piece of literature. For anyone who has read "The Dragon Can't Dance" or any of Lovelace's other works are familiar with the colloquial style of his writing, which captures the Trinidadian vernacular at its finest. This story centers around a people facing religious persecution, and holding on to dearly to their cultural identity. Metaphorically, they're seeking someone to rise up & become the saviour of their village, in the mold of Christ. If you've read "The Dragon Can't Dance" or Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart," you will see some parallels, but still be impressed. Overall, a very good read and one worth recommending.

Lovelace's Wine is an excellent novel, and he is one of the premier authors out of Trinidad and Tobago. Wine tells the story of a nation in transition, a people looking to get ahead, a man who is willing to give up his faith and his roots for the life he finds desirable. The novel signals the end of the warrior culture in T&T as Bolo is replaced by Ivan Morton and principle by expedience. The oppression of the Spiritual Baptist Church, the Shouters, by the government and the Church of Rome is the vehicle that drives this novel of a nation with changing values. The biggest regret I have in relation to The Wine of Astonishment is that the old cover, with the Shouter Baptist woman kneeling and praying, was replaced by a meaningless image divorced from the world the novel depicts. I taught this novel in high school in Trinidad, and the students (13-15) loved it.

This fine book is essential reading for anyone interested in Trinidad or in religion, particularly indigenous religions, in the Caribbean. It is the story of a congregation of Shouters or Spiritual Baptists, an African Christian religion that was banned and persecuted by British colonial authorities, as they struggle with the conflict between worshipping as they believe they should and conforming to the heavy hand of the law. As such, it also has much to say concerning the cultural and psychological costs of colonization. It is a short, simple, engaging and profound novel, one of the best from the Caribbean. Highly recommended.

This book provided an interesting perspective of what life was like for the black Baptist population of Trinidad during the time of World War 2. It was not so much a "story" as it was the painting of a picture of social circumstances within this particular era. Those circumstances involved the stifling of religious freedoms as one reflection of a broader bigoted disdain for Afro-Caribbeans and their culture. If you go into the reading of it with the right expectations -- i.e., that you will be presented with a picture painting rather than a story -- then you'll be more able to enjoy it. The writing is quite good for what it is, which is mostly a narrative of the goings on by the wife of one of the two main characters. There was not much in the way of deep character development because, again, the author's point was more to describe a social issue and engender the commensurate emotional impact than to tell a story in the more conventional sense. I look back on "The Wine of Astonishment" -- and would recommend it to others -- as something best read as perhaps a "primer" for the genre of mid-century period pieces set in the Caribbean.

This is the best book that I've read in the last 10 years. Politics , social commentary , religion , it's all in here. Set in Trinidad , Wine... follows a church leader , his family and their surrounding community , as they grapple with a wide array of social ills. Beyond a good book. This one's a classic.

Bonassee, is a small village in rural Trinidad. The novel is set in 1940s and discusses the trials and tribulation of the people living in Bonassee trying to survive the changes on a Caribbean island during the war. Themes of poverty, survival and oppression.

Very appropriate reading for current times.

Gud