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Some readers may struggle with the messages this novel sends. There are few repercussions for the lawless behavior exhibited throughout the book. The author poses controversial questions about selling drugs. Life is cheap, with casual murders occurring regularly and mostly without remorse. Although I feel a bit uneasy with the author's point of view on these subjects, I love his honesty about them. It adds to the book's authenticity. Overall, I found An Olive Grove in Ends to be wholly original, and Sayon a unique and fascinating narrator... continued My cousin Winnie called the street itself home. She slept on the Baptist church steps and begged cigarette stubs from the gutter. She said she found the gutter more giving than the people passing, but maybe the people passing had nutun left to give. Boysah, yuh better lef di poor gyal loose, Sayon. Maybe next time mi bump innah Marcia mi could tell er, dem deserve fi know exactly who deh date dem daughter. I did not find the religious aspect to be either peachy or to be critical of religion, rather it was an important presence in this man's life, key to his understanding of the world and preached by men with flaws. Yeah, I wanted it to be very internal. And even in the firstdraft it was very meandering. We spend a lot of time in Sayon’s world, in his mind, and everything is limited by his perception of things and of people. But Cuba is my favourite character by far. He’s the character that I have the most time for, the most compassion for, that I had to remind myself not to be too compassionate about. But I think portraying their relationship was one of the best things about writing the novel for me. That was intentional as well: perspective limiting or limiting what we see.
An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie | Hachette UK An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie | Hachette UK
Somewhat, yes, it talks about religion and family. The town is referred to as Ends. Since the novel is full of religious imagery, I found in Revelation 11:4, there are two olive trees that symbolize the Holy Spirit's endless supply of anointing. Plus, there’s an olive grove with the family’s lineage painted in the front of the book, too.The road was patrolled by young and old: abtis arranged tables outside cafés, serving tea from pans; they peered into the faces of young hijabis, trying to find a likeness and match daughter to hooyo. Their sons and nephews stood outside corner shops and met at park benches, and together with my cousins, they were watched by the disapproving eyes of our respective elders. As in any of the other manuscripts? Oh, no, no, no. He’s a character that was invented just for this. Key family members include: Cuba/Midnight – strictly the son of Sayon’s mother’s younger sister but very much a brother to Sayon from school through to their drug dealing partnership; Sayon’s own mother Erica – one of the few to leave the Hughes family, having married a Church pastor Errol Stewart and having largely abandoned all links to the Hughes, including to her own son from a young age; his older cousin Hakim – the other escapee from the family, having converted to Islam, married a Somali girl Elia (Sayon’s school friend) and running a bakery; Winnie – the drug addicted daughter of Nanny’s sister Auny Winifred and a rather (to me) confusing list of other cousins – Jamaal, Hakim, Killa, Bunny all seemingly marked by their criminal, womanising and violent tendencies.
An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie | Waterstones An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie | Waterstones
WINNER: HAWTHORNDEN PRIZE 2023; SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARD 2023; SOHO HOUSE BREAKTHROUGH WRITER AWARD 2022 In return, Sayon wants to give the people he loves the world: a house atop a grand hill in the most affluent area of the city, a home in which they can forever find joy and safety. But after an altercation in which a boy is killed, Sayon finds his loyalties torn and his dream of a better life in peril. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? The community and location takes on a life of its own (just as Manderley in Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier does) from the descriptions of the smells, to the people who walk the streets and the slow colonisation of the gentrified neighbourhood by new white business owners. We see Sayon strong feelings about his community and family and how that impacts his decisions and relationships. Two officers stood beside the tape ready to hurry any gawkers along, but since this wasn’t Clifton, the scene was hardly worth much more than a passing glance.I was actually in the Library when the cover of this book caught my eye. As it sat in the window, I was A coming of age story about a man born into a family of drug dealers, and his desire to live a better life and the only avenue he thinks is available to him. I set the novel in the area I was raised in. So the inspiration is just the area itself, you know, my home is the inspiration. I don’t mean my home as in my literal house. My home, as in my area and then the neighbouring area. I didn’t have to sit down and think about setting and place because that was what I lived. And then I wrote it for my little cousin.
An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie | Goodreads An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie | Goodreads
The road was patrolled by young and old: abtis arranged tables outside cafes, serving tea from pans; they peered into the faces of young hijabis, trying to find a likeness and match daughter to hooyo. Their sons and nephews stood outside corner shops and met at park benches, and together with my cousins, they were watched by the disapproving eyes of our respective elders.This is a story, much like any other, of ends and beginnings. Like any story, it is hard to know where to begin. But I think it makes sense to start at home, or a home. Actually, it might be more accurate to call it a house; one that stood alone atop Mount Zion, overlooking Leigh Woods, the Avon Valley and the muddy river that wound beneath. In Chapter 2, Sayon says "my mortality was as real to me as the soil I shovelled on to the aunts, uncles and cousins we buried…the funerals outnumbered even the weddings." How does his family history and their reputation in Ends impact his life as he comes of age? No, I can’t imagine writing about any of the characters again, but I’m adapting it into a screenplay at the moment. But regarding writing another book, I’ve got too many ideas I want to do outside of this, rather than revisit this. To everything there may have been a season, but some things remained unchanged and I wouldn’t rest until I owned that house-atop-the-hill.
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