Dominoes by Phoebe McIntosh is a really interesting and enticing love story, but one that explores a topic I haven’t read about in a novel before – the generational repercussions of slavery. Dominoes centres around Layla, who is mixed race and Andy, her fiancé, who is white. The thing is, they have the same surname (pre-marriage), McKinnon.
Opening sentence: It was a crisp evening in Angel.
Meet the McKinnons
Layla McKinnon meets Andy McKinnon at a house party. They hit it off immediately and eventually get engaged. The fact they share a surname, pre-marriage, is initially just a fun fact and something they like, makes it feel like they were always meant to be together.
However, Layla’s friend Sera isn’t as enthused about their impending marriage and encourages Layla to look into her family history and delve into how it is that she, from Jamaican descent can share a surname with Andy, who has Scottish roots.
How we deal with our past plays an important part in the way we live. Do you agree with that?
That’s when Layla discovers that Andy’s family were slave owners. Essentially – they owned her family. And that’s why they have a shared surname. This is the central theme of the book, Dominoes takes us on Layla’s journey as she processes this new information and considers what it means for her that Andy’s family once owned hers.
Generational repercussions
Layla goes back to Jamaica to further explore her complex family situation and see exactly how her and Andy’s families are intertwined.
She also looks forward as well as to the past, exploring heritage and family in future generations too:
The thought of the skin colour of future generations of my family resting with me alone, and the idea that the blackness in us could simply fade out the further you got through a family photo album, filled me with intense sorrow.
Dominoes is a great book, presenting a story I hadn’t read about before and being able to both create characters you care about and raise considered cultural commentary about slavery and racism that leaves you thinking.
- Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC;
- Get your copy of Dominoes here;
- Published by Chatto & Windus 7th March 2024;
- 266 pages;
- My rating:
Books on the 7:47 