American-born artist Chris is forced to reconsider his own concept of "family" during a visit to his mother's Caribbean homeland.
"Alecia McKenzie's tender new novel [is] an emotionally resonant ode to adopted families and community resilience."
--New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
Shortlisted for the 2020 Caribbean Readers' Awards (Best Adult Novel)!
Longlisted for the 2022 DUBLIN Literary Award!
"Delightfully original, this novel centers Chris, an American who travels to his mother's homeland of Jamaica to reflect and heal after tragedy strikes. What he encounters is unexpected, complicated and, perhaps, just what he needs."
--Ms. Magazine
"Emotional, enthralling and heartfelt...A story of loss and the infinite types of love."
--Woman's World
After a personal tragedy upends his world, American-born artist Chris travels to his mother's homeland in the Caribbean hoping to find some peace and tranquility. He plans to spend his time painting in solitude and coming to terms with his recent loss and his fractured relationship with his father. Instead, he discovers a new extended and complicated "family." The people he meets help him to heal, even as he supports them in unexpected ways. Told from different points of view, this is a compelling novel about unlikely love, friendship, and community, with surprises along the way.
About the Author: ALECIA McKENZIE is a Jamaican writer currently based in France. Her first collection of short stories, Satellite City, and her novel, Sweetheart, have both won Commonwealth Book Prizes. The French edition of Sweetheart was awarded the Prix Carbet des Lycéens. Her other books include Stories from Yard, Doctor's Orders, and When the Rain Stopped in Natland. Her writing has also appeared in a range of literary magazines and in anthologies such as Stories from Blue Latitudes, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, Bridges, Global Tales, Girls Night In, and To Exist Is to Resist. She has edited two collections of contemporary short stories, and her poetry has been published in various international journals including The Caribbean Writer and the Journal of Postcolonial Writing.
