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Margie's Reviews > Otherwise Occupied
Otherwise Occupied
by
by
Debbie Boucher (Goodreads Author)
Margie's review
May 27, 2022
it was amazing
bookshelves: friendship, historical-fiction, islands, love-story, world-war-ll, caribbeanRead 2 times. Last read May 9, 2022 to May 27, 2022.
Otherwise Occupied, a work of historical fiction, was an unexpected eye opener, as well as a nostalgic read for me because it strongly reminded me of my mom and her experiences as a nurse during WWII in Costa Rica and Panama.
My mother, an adventurous and spirited young nurse from Medicine Hat, a small town in Alberta, left Canada in the mid-1930s for a job in New York City. When WWII started a few years later she applied for jobs in England and Central America and was hired by a hospital in Costa Rica.
On the morning she was to sail, her taxi was held up in traffic and she arrived late at the dock. Her ship had already sailed and just those few minutes saved her from ending up at the bottom of the Atlantic. The ship on which she was supposed to be a passenger was sunk by a German (U-boat) submarine. My mom had literally "missed the boat." To this day I don't worry about being late.
Because of this and another U-boat incident in Costa Rica where my mom nursed, I knew there was German presence in the Atlantic off the Eastern Seaboard and in the Caribbean during WWII, but didn't realize the heavy impact of it until I read Otherwise Occupied.
The heavy presence of German submarines in the Caribbean and south Atlantic strongly impacted the economies of many Caribbean and South American countries and affected the livelihoods of local populations. The dangers lurking offshore also spread anxiety and fear with the many explosions and bodies washed ashore.
Otherwise Occupied immersed me in the history, culture, language and dialect of Trinidad and Tobago, formerly a British colony (and before British occupation, a colony of many different countries). These topics are seamlessly linked with friendships and an interracial love affair between an American in the Seabees (Navy Construction Battalion) during WWII and a Trinidadian of African, Portuguese and Indian heritage.
The three main characters, Henry Hoffman (Hank), James David McAllister (JD) and Estella da Silva (Stella) form strong friendships as well as a love affair in the 1940s and the story weaves back and forth between the 1940s and the early 1960s.
Henry becomes a professor of historiography at the University of Iowa after WWII and is writing a (non-fiction) book about the military presence of the U.S. in Trinidad during WWII. Through excerpts from his book and the friendships Hank develops, we learn the history and culture of the islands with a concentration on the WWII years.
The three main as well as secondary characters are all relatable and well-drawn. I became particularly fond of Granny, Stella's grandmother, whose sentences are punctuated with the patois of her particular enclave and who always has an herbal remedy on hand for whatever ails you. She is a talented and creative seamstress and is heavily relied upon to create beautiful costumes for local holidays and parades.
Otherwise Occupied addresses many different topics such as:
* The various cultures and religions of the islands, including blending of religions, holidays and cuisine
* Interracial marriage
* History of slavery and agriculture (sugar cane and cacao) replaced by the oil industry
* Natural history and scenery of the islands including a beautiful passage about sea turtles
* WWII and the aforementioned U-boats in the Atlantic and Caribbean
* British in Trinidad and Tobago detailing class structure, racism and exploitation
* American military in Trinidad during WWII detailing infrastructure construction, (mis)behavior of troops and racist attitudes
* Racism and class consciousness between and among different ethnic groups in the islands
* Racism in the south and north in the United States
* London during WWII and the Blitz.
I appreciated the six pages of maps in the front of the book detailing different locations in the book.
Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and I am often inspired to read non-fiction following a well-researched and well-written historical fiction book such as this one. Otherwise Occupied explores the rich history and culture of Trinidad and Tobago combined with an interracial love affair that makes us question our abysmal lack of progress in racist issues today.
My mother, an adventurous and spirited young nurse from Medicine Hat, a small town in Alberta, left Canada in the mid-1930s for a job in New York City. When WWII started a few years later she applied for jobs in England and Central America and was hired by a hospital in Costa Rica.
On the morning she was to sail, her taxi was held up in traffic and she arrived late at the dock. Her ship had already sailed and just those few minutes saved her from ending up at the bottom of the Atlantic. The ship on which she was supposed to be a passenger was sunk by a German (U-boat) submarine. My mom had literally "missed the boat." To this day I don't worry about being late.
Because of this and another U-boat incident in Costa Rica where my mom nursed, I knew there was German presence in the Atlantic off the Eastern Seaboard and in the Caribbean during WWII, but didn't realize the heavy impact of it until I read Otherwise Occupied.
The heavy presence of German submarines in the Caribbean and south Atlantic strongly impacted the economies of many Caribbean and South American countries and affected the livelihoods of local populations. The dangers lurking offshore also spread anxiety and fear with the many explosions and bodies washed ashore.
Otherwise Occupied immersed me in the history, culture, language and dialect of Trinidad and Tobago, formerly a British colony (and before British occupation, a colony of many different countries). These topics are seamlessly linked with friendships and an interracial love affair between an American in the Seabees (Navy Construction Battalion) during WWII and a Trinidadian of African, Portuguese and Indian heritage.
The three main characters, Henry Hoffman (Hank), James David McAllister (JD) and Estella da Silva (Stella) form strong friendships as well as a love affair in the 1940s and the story weaves back and forth between the 1940s and the early 1960s.
Henry becomes a professor of historiography at the University of Iowa after WWII and is writing a (non-fiction) book about the military presence of the U.S. in Trinidad during WWII. Through excerpts from his book and the friendships Hank develops, we learn the history and culture of the islands with a concentration on the WWII years.
The three main as well as secondary characters are all relatable and well-drawn. I became particularly fond of Granny, Stella's grandmother, whose sentences are punctuated with the patois of her particular enclave and who always has an herbal remedy on hand for whatever ails you. She is a talented and creative seamstress and is heavily relied upon to create beautiful costumes for local holidays and parades.
Otherwise Occupied addresses many different topics such as:
* The various cultures and religions of the islands, including blending of religions, holidays and cuisine
* Interracial marriage
* History of slavery and agriculture (sugar cane and cacao) replaced by the oil industry
* Natural history and scenery of the islands including a beautiful passage about sea turtles
* WWII and the aforementioned U-boats in the Atlantic and Caribbean
* British in Trinidad and Tobago detailing class structure, racism and exploitation
* American military in Trinidad during WWII detailing infrastructure construction, (mis)behavior of troops and racist attitudes
* Racism and class consciousness between and among different ethnic groups in the islands
* Racism in the south and north in the United States
* London during WWII and the Blitz.
I appreciated the six pages of maps in the front of the book detailing different locations in the book.
Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and I am often inspired to read non-fiction following a well-researched and well-written historical fiction book such as this one. Otherwise Occupied explores the rich history and culture of Trinidad and Tobago combined with an interracial love affair that makes us question our abysmal lack of progress in racist issues today.
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