A Journey for Perlene: Jumping Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Sherene Rutherford’s A Journey for Perlene attempts to render the triumphs and tragedies of the protagonist, Perlene, as she grows up in Jamaica without her mother, Anrol. Anrol returned to England when Perlene was nine; several years later, Perlene, along with her sisters, fly to England to rejoin their mother.

The novel examines the lives of each of Anrol’s daughters. Perlene struggles through life with rocky relationships and the loss of her sister Camille, who commits suicide after several attempts. The other sister, Antoinette, loses a child, which contributes to the traumas all three sisters experience throughout their lives.

The problem with the book is in its lack of organization and lack of editing. The chapters are not arranged in any sort of discernible order, so major plot points are revealed before they are explained, and a number of basic editing errors related to spelling, punctuation, and grammar usage make the book very hard to read. However, there is a compelling story here about women’s resilience and strength.