Neena Viel’s latest novel, I’ll Watch Your Baby, feels like a microcosm of not being able to escape your past.
We follow Lottie, a schemer and a scammer who, during the ’70s, procures children for families looking to adopt, but let’s just say she doesn’t do it through legal routes.
Fast forward to the mid-90s, and we switch attention to Bless, who, after struggling to find her place, has found some sort of peace, but this is all gonna change when her past comes back with a vengeance.
What Viel does really nail is the social commentary, especially for people of colour, as prejudices unspoken rear their heads at different moments and muddy the waters of both Lottie and Bless’ stories.
The format is slightly tricky to grasp as this felt more like a drama than an outright horror story. Having said that, it does take some swings in the closing chapter that will have you looking at the entire story different.
While not wholly my cup of tea, I’ll Watch Your Baby will definitely find an audience and Viel’s textured writing has serious promise going forward.
I’ll Watch Your Baby by Neena Viel is available now in various formats from Titan Books.
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