This is an enjoyable read. Now, being a novel written in 1920-30s, there are aspects and outdated descriptions that you wouldn’t find written today. Glaring was the anti-Semitic treatment of the lawyer right at the start of the book. 

The characters are complex and flawed, which I always appreciate. Lafala is loving, angry, at times greedy, at others generous. Aslima is hopeful, strong-willed, and smart. Kenyon Farrow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxl-oWckgwQ) described it really well in his video. This book is light and easy to digest without being fluff. It's funny at times, heartbreaking at others. I appreciate stories with an ensemble of characters and this book delivers! The narrative voice as well allows for exploration of the various characters and not just Lafala. 

There is a real sense of community with the laborers in Marseille. That isn’t to say everyone gets along. Titin hates Lafala. La Fleur is ready to fight Aslima. But these arise from Lafala’s promised fortune. You could read this focusing on the effect promised money has on everyone and how they treat others, as I did. Lafala at first is greedy as heck with his promised money, refusing to share. To see if he changes his way, you'll have to read it. 🙊

Excerpts from some pages I dog-eared: “But all were worshippers, subject creatures, making  sacrifices to it: budding flower of childhood, fruit of adolescence, honey of maturity, wine of experience, vinegar of disillusion, bitter broth of cynicism, lamentation of blasted hopes.” (page 62)

“Aslima could never escape from her record as a prostitute. If she had a song it would be a whoreson. Wherever she wen and whatever she did she was in the clutch of the social law, the police record that would trace her down to the third and fourth generation.” (page 90)
"Never was [Lafala] so happy in sweet loving. It was as if Aslima has all the time reserved a secret cell in her being and had unlocked it now for him alone to enter. And how like a rare tropical garden it was where every fruit was delicious to taste." (page 125)

If you’re looking for: Black classics, queer (side) characters, study of community