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Minding Ben

Review

Minding Ben

It is December 1989, and 16-year-old Grace Caton is leaving her home in a tiny village in Trinidad, where her beloved sister, ailing father and stern mother reside. She's boarding an airplane to fly to New York City, where she's to live with her cousin in Brooklyn. The plan is for Grace to attend high school during the day and then watch her cousin's child in the evenings. The cousin will sponsor Grace so she can become a citizen. It's a great plan, but it doesn't unfold that way. Instead, the cousin neglects to even pick up Grace at the airport.

Two years later, we catch up with Grace, who is living in a tiny dilapidated and filthy apartment with Sylvia, a stranger who invited Grace to live with her. Sylvia has three children for whom Grace cares, including a toddler named Dame, who has developmental challenges. Grace has had one job as a babysitter; now that that has ended, she is desperately looking for another position. As she searches, she helps care for Sylvia's children, who adore her. She also considers their Uncle Bo's suggestion that they marry, so she can get her green card. Bo, who is unemployed and usually drunk, will consent to marry Grace if she can come up with the thousands of dollars he's planning to charge her. Naturally, she really doesn't want this kind of a wedding, even if it's in name only, but is desperate to get her papers.

At last, Grace is offered a job as a nanny to four-year-old Ben. She will live in the Manhattan apartment of Sol and Miriam Bruckner every Monday through Friday. Miriam downplays the fact that, besides watching Ben, Grace will be expected to do some housework and cook. The Bruckners are only offering Grace $200 a week, which is considerably under the $450 to $500 Grace has heard is standard for Manhattan. Still, she must have a job. She needs to send money home to her parents, save up to become a citizen, and pay for everyday living expenses.

Almost immediately Miriam begins to take advantage of Grace, who is presented with a long list of duties she's expected to take care of, along with Ben. Grace meets other nannies who hint darkly at the way Miriam treated Grace's predecessor. Ben is high-spirited and somewhat spoiled, but the real problem is his mother, who is inappropriate as well as demanding. One of Grace's duties (and one that she finds particularly repugnant) is to take weekly photos of the naked Miriam, who wants a record of her enlarging pregnant abdomen.

Luckily for Grace's peace of mind, she has allies. Kathy, her colorful and rambunctious friend, prods her to enjoy a social life and introduces her to the handsome Brent. She also finds a friend in one of the Bruckners' neighbors, who tends a lush garden around his penthouse apartment.

MINDING BEN is a captivating tale. Author Victoria Brown writes vividly, setting readers directly into Grace's shoes and giving us an entirely new perspective on life for immigrants in New York City. Grace's story is filled with both heartbreak and hope, making for a poignant and memorable debut novel.

Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon ([email protected]) on April 18, 2011

Minding Ben
by Victoria Brown

  • Publication Date: April 12, 2011
  • Genres: Fiction
  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Voice
  • ISBN-10: 1401341519
  • ISBN-13: 9781401341510