Hi Meltingpot Readers,
I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of Nicole Dennis-Benn’s debut novel, Here Comes the Sun! It’s being talked about everywhere, from the New York Times, to Oprah magazine. I refuse to read any reviews because I want to enjoy it with unbiased eyes, but I do know it’s a story about a young woman in Jamaica who reveals what the real Jamaica is like, away from the tourist industry. I’m clearly underselling it because I actually don’t really know much more than that about the plot. But that’s how I like to come to books or else my expectations are too high.
Dennis-Benn herself is Jamaican so she’s writing from experience. And anybody who’s been a loyal reader of The Meltingpot knows I love Jamaican authors. Here’s a link to my original post from 2008 explaining why. Enjoy. And stay tuned for a full review of Here Comes the Sun.
Comments
One response to “I Love Jamaican Writers Redux”
I’d extend your comment to authors from the Caribbean -. I just finished A Brief History of Seven Killings which I thought masterful and am rereading Danticat(sp?)’s The Dew Breaker. . Why I like them I don’t know — maybe they deal with our problems but they’re far enough away to not be quite as painful. Or, because, like Indian authors, they appear to have benefited by a very good English influenced education. They’ve read a lot and very widely (at least within the English -meaning that country-cannon). Plus they also have a lot of diversity or race mix as the white southeners used to call it. Also like us but again not us. And, unlike the Central and South Americans we can read them without translation. And I can’t forget Junot Diaz.