Honestly, this book moved just a little too slowly for me. Reading the inside cover made me immediately think of Garcia Marquez, but set in the Virgin Islands - what could be better?! The voices of the characters were so individual, so real (which, having read the afterward, makes a lot of sense, as many of the characters were based on the family members/history of the author). And because of her personal connection and the story telling she embodied, I really wanted to like this book more. Plus, magical realism is generally one of my favorite genres. And this book had all the right elements...the obeah women, the magical "stories" about the Duene who walk with their feet backwards, the mythical beauty and otherness of Eeona and Youme...everything happening in real life, in more or less real time, but with a bit of mysticism thrown in. There was just something that didn't hit all the way home with me. Objectively, I recognize the merits of the book and the story and the writing, but subjectively I just never felt engulfed in it the way I wanted to.