The Heart Does Not Bend

Praise

“The Heart Does Not Bend is guided by an emotional and intellectual honesty, making it both a highly entertaining and a thoroughly rewarding novel.” — Quill and Quire

“The Heart Does Not Bend is an achingly rich, sensuous text…. Keep an eye on this author, because The Heart Does Not Bend is a refreshingly simple but undeniably intense addition to this country’s literary legacy.” — NOW Magazine

“The Heart Does Not Bend is as much a story of familial love and loss as it is an important and interesting exercise in writing — and for the reader, in reading — against the grain.” — Shani Mootoo, Globe and Mail

“[T]he outspoken Maria stays with the reader, as possibly one of the most vivid characters ever to rise up from the printed page….The Heart Does Not Bend is a sensuous book, full of smells (fish to floral), sights (those Jamaican Blue Mountains), sounds (the chatter of crickets and neighbours) and tastes.” — The Gazette (Montreal)

“This is a frank, vivid and sad tale about a family divided by distance, jealousy and disappointment. But Makeda Silvera’s first novel is also a tale about love and hope restored…. Silvera weaves wonderful descriptions throughout the story, engaging every sense…. The Heart Does Not Bend is a worthy first novel — startling, genuine and yet, extremely draining.” — Victoria Times Colonist

“[The Heart Does Not Bend is] a novel of delicate eloquence…. Silvera does several things that impress when it comes to language…. Her dialogue is pure patois, delightfully expressive, but democratically measured…. [T]his portrait of a family is also a poignant saga of Jamaican society. In Maria, Silvera has created a completely idiosyncratic figure, strong and weak, generous and intolerant, the novel’s unbending heart.” — The Toronto Star

“The strength of the novel lies in its description, especially of Jamaica, and its peeling back the layers of loyalty to family and culture. While several members of the family leave Jamaica for Toronto, they are always Jamaican, by voice, by skin colour, by food, by family ties.” — The Edmonton Journal

“Silvera, a poet, knows how to use sight, sound, taste, touch and smell to create beautiful images.” — W.P. Kinsella, Books In Canada

“The Heart Does Not Bend envelops the reader in all the intricacies of life and love in a modern family and leaves the reader with the understanding that true happiness is found more easily in loving than in being loved. It is a captivating, human and deeply true tale, a welcome addition to contemporary Canadian literature.” — The Hamilton Spectator

“A sensuous book, full of smells (fish to floral), sights (those Jamaican Blue Mountains), sounds (the chatter of crickets and neighbours) and tastes.”– The Gazette