Blythe's Book 5: Lime Tree Can't Bear Orange

Lime Tree Can't Bear Orange (from here on referred to as LTCBO) is the story of Celia D'abadie, a Tobagan (is that even a word??) raised by her kind but naive aunt. Celia leaves Tobago for Trinidad after being raped, and there finds herself employed by the kind Dr. Emanuel Rodriguez, who later seduces her. It may feel like I'm giving away too much of the plot, but very little comes in this novel that you couldn't predict as soon as a character is introduced. You know Celia's uncle is no good; you know Dr. Rodriguez will eventually seduce her; you know the lovestruck gardener, William, will never be enough for our complicated heroine.

At first this bothered me-- the prose is beautiful, as are the descriptions of the lush (and at this time highly coveted as I'm freezing my wimpy Floridian ass off) tropics of Trinidad and Tobago-- but the story is just so danged predictable. However,after finishing the novel I was hit with a revelation. Amanda Smyth, the author of LTCBO, repeatedly stresses throughout the novel that we don't determine our own life, we simply follow the path that has been laid before us. Celia is told almost this exact thing by one of the secondary characters, Joseph Carr Brown: "I believe you follow your life, Celia. You don't lead your life. It's a mistake people make. We're not that powerful or important" (99). Even earlier in the novel, Celia runs across a soothsayer, Mrs. Jeremiah, who tells her that the path she will follow is a predetermined and hard one. This is not a prediction in Celia's eyes-- as it comes from the mouth of Mrs. Jeremiah, it is taken as truth. Smyth seemed to incorporate this same belief in her writing; the path laid before us, as readers, is clear. There are few surprises for us to stumble across in LTCBO. However, the story is still extremely interesting, reminiscent of Edwidge Danticat's work both in its style and subject, and I was compelled to finish it. (And this is saying a lot, considering for every book I finish there are probably two or three I toss aside halfway through.) Smyth suggests that the story she is about to tell is already laid forth; she cannot change it or stray from the path before her. No suprises, just life in all its complicated, messy, heartwrenching glory. Lucky for me, this didn't make it a less worthwhile read.