Joseph Zobel, Black Shack Alley
A conversation with Emily Zobel Marshall
Questions on Black Shack Alley
Videos about Joseph Zobel
Black shack alley was definitely a longer read than my previous book Agostino, however, even in its sadness, I felt like the pages took me on a long immersive journey. There was no dramatic twists or anything shocking that would make my eyes pop out or do a double take while reading the text. The […]
feb 8, 2026 Reading this book was really depressing compared to reading the previous books, even though it had simpler wording, the descriptions of the author’s childhood is very vivid and raw and the dread just goes on and on as we see how they live under discrimination and their family’s struggles. It took me […]
This reading overall made me feel sad and exhausted. Not in a dramatic way, but because Jose’s life was just… reality. It was precisely the coming of youth, and the cards were never in his favour. Knowing that this novel was in part autobiographical makes sense to me. I think the most saddening character to […]
Black Shack Alley left me feeling a certain numb sadness that I can’t quite describe. It felt like I was watching José slowly lose himself and his joy/passion as he followed the path of education and achieved these milestones, and it was quite sad to watch this progress. I could feel my mood dropping throughout […]
I have to say, I really did like the writing style, it was the only thing that got me through most of it because the length (Last minute reading) was kind of intimidating. While there were a lot of things I loved about this story, I also realized that books ragebait me way too easily […]
I enjoyed reading Black Shack Alley as I did not know much about the circumstances in the Caribbean islands during this period so it was a refreshing read. The grim living conditions of the Black Shack Alley are totally contrasted with Jose’s naivety in the beginning to what is going on around him and in […]
