Classic novels have the unique and unparalleled power to explore cultures and concepts so often underappreciated and underrepresented in the world of literature. And at the forefront of this is author Alice Walker, a well-renowned writer known for exploring previously taboo topics with imagination and writing genius. But what did I think of By the Light of My Father’s Smile? In short, not for me.
By the Light of My Father’s Smile follows a young family travelling to a remote area of Mexico to study the indigenous populations, so often persecuted and pushed about by foreign powers. Celebrating sexuality and spirituality together, the book explores the love and loss of self, and how one woman’s journey to rediscover who she is leads her to unexpected means.
The concept of this book was deeply interesting to me – female sexuality is very rarely explored or even discussed, instead brushed under the carpet in the guise of focusing on something else. And exploring this, and the concept of spirituality was very interesting, and made for some of the best pages in this book. But the intersection of these ideas, combined with moving back and forth in time, ultimately made the narrative confusing, leading on several occasions to me re-reading passages multiple times in an attempt to understand what was being conveyed by Walker.
I also found the themes of death being explored slightly underdeveloped as well. It was unclear to me how the living and the dead were interacting in this story, and how this related to the spirituality being explored. Were the dead communing with everyone, or only those of the specific faith being explored? How were they communing at all? And how was this affecting the rest of the narrative? Another fantastic theme, yet when discussed alongside the others, each combatting each other for words, they all suffered collectively.
A groundbreaking novel exploring loss, sexuality and feminism, Alice Walker’s By the Light of My Father’s Smile has no doubt been an important novel in the history of literature, and yet fails to hit the spot as a modern reader. Whilst I appreciate I am certainly not the audience targeted for this specific work, and I appreciate what the plot was intending to achieve, the lack of clarity and clear direction the story was aiming to take left me confused at many points, particularly with the self-declared time jumps. This book has been a cultural triumph, yet did not hit home with me reading it today.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
By the Light of My Father’s Smile (ISBN: 0-7043-5083-1) was published in 1998. A copy is available to borrow from the LGBTQ+ Lending Library in the LGBTQ+ Lounge
