THE PLOT: ‘Patsy’ by Nicole Dennis Benn is a literary novel about a woman who leaves her child to illegally migrate to the U.S. Patsy loves her daughter Tru but is struggling to provide for her in Jamaica. A young single mother, she never expected to get pregnant and mourns her lost potential. She yearns to be with her childhood best friend and young love, Cicely, who abruptly ran away to New York City, but writes to Patsy with tales of opportunity. But when Patsy leaves Tru with her father to rekindle her relationship with Cicely, her immigration status means she can never come back. Weaving between the lives of Patsy and Tru, each struggles to find themselves and their way back to each other.

SUMMARY:  I bought this book a few years ago (after hearing it was Candice Carty-Williams’ favourite novel) and I read it after an inspiring talk by the author at the Take World writing retreat in Lisbon. I’m so glad I finally opened it as the complex characters, beautiful writing and strong themes spoke to my soul. Told from the perspectives of both Patsy and Tru, this is a very well written novel about motherhood and migration. The dual storylines complemented each other perfectly and it was profound to see how both characters struggled with their sexuality and gender identity. While each character isn’t necessarily likeable, I enjoyed the study of their actions and coming to understand their choices.

GOOD BITS: The writing is very dense because each sentence is packed with so much meaning. It took me several weeks to finish (which is quite unusual for me) as I kept reading each sentence twice to fully understand its impact. Each character, no matter how small, gives you a different perspective on the central theme and I love how motherhood isn’t reduced to a binary. My favourite characters were Roy and Marva, and I felt so interested in their dynamic and their character trajectories. I also liked Claudette, Kenny and Sore-Foot Marlon, and found they alleviated some of the unlikeability of the main character.

NOT SO GOOD BITS: This book is certainly a slow burn and won’t be for those who are seeking plot heavy drama. Yet despite the slow pace, I found the ending a little anti-climactic as the resolution felt too sudden and the reconciliation between Patsy and Tru was summarised in a few pages. I also wanted a bit more of Cicely’s character and to get some of the backstory from her point of view (perhaps in dialogue?). Particularly, I wanted to know more about Cicely’s relationship with Pope, and how that impacted the shattering of Patsy’s initial friendship with him.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to fans of ‘Black Cake’ by Charmaine Wilkerson, ‘Small Island’ by Andrea Levy, and ‘Dominicana’ by Angie Cruz. If you’re looking for a book with generations of women, deep themes about motherhood, and LGBT representation, then add this to your cart.

This book is available to buy with a discount on my bookshop.org account.