Shani Mootoo, Cereus Blooms at Night

Caryn Rae Adams (La Trobe University)

Ed. by Abigail Ward, University of Nottingham
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 4.1.1: Anglophone Writing and Culture of Central America and the Caribbean.
Vol. editors: Ronald Cummings (McMaster University), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège), Melanie Otto (Trinity College Dublin), Jak Peake (University of Essex), Abigail Ward (University of Nottingham)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1996

Places

Trinidad & Tobago (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

In her debut novel Cereus Blooms at Night (1996), Shani Mootoo bravely examines non-traditional relationships still considered taboo across the Caribbean. Through the lens of contemporary queer theory, the novel explores the tenuous nature of identity construction, providing a greater awareness of a spectrum of lives of Caribbean people, regardless of race, gender, class or ethnicity. Set in the fictional island of Lantanacamara, Mootoo’s text presents a cast of “differently othered” characters, with Tyler, the male homosexual nurse as narrator and mouth-piece for the newest resident of the Paradise Alms House, the elderly Mala Ramchandin. It is through Tyler that the truth of Mala’s traumatic past is revealed – years …

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1875 words

Citation: Adams, Caryn Rae. "Cereus Blooms at Night". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 August 2016 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35703, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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