Book review: Jamaica Road by Lisa Smith

 A transformative love story about two best friends who fall for each other, fall apart, and try to find their way back together in their tight-knit British-Jamaican community.

South London, 1981: Daphne is the only Black girl in her class. All she wants is to keep her head down, preferably in a book. The easiest way to survive is to go unnoticed. 

Daphne’s attempts at invisibility are upended when a boy named Connie Small arrives from Jamaica. Connie is the opposite of small in every lanky, outgoing, and unapologetically himself. Daphne tries to keep her distance, but Connie is magnetic, and they form an intense bond. As they navigate growing up in a volatile, rapidly changing city, their families become close, and their friendship begins to shift into something more complicated. When Connie reveals that he and his mother “nuh land”—meaning they’re in England illegally—Daphne realizes that she is dangerously entangled in Connie’s fragile home life. Soon, long-buried secrets in both families threaten to tear them apart permanently.

Spanning one tumultuous decade, from the industrial docklands of the Thames to the sandy beaches of Calabash Bay, Jamaica Road is a deftly plotted and emotionally expansive debut novel about race and class, the family you’re born with and the family you choose, and the limits of what true love can really conquer.

My Thoughts

A very engrossing coming of age story.

In Jamaica Road we meet Daphne a young Jamaican born girl living in South London in the 1980s. Daphne had to deal with being different at a time when her school didnt fully accept both her race and ehhicity. Her life changed when Cornelius 'Connie' came to her class.

Connie fresh from Jamaica was not easily accepted and while at first Daphne tried to avoid him, they quickly formed a friendship that will withstand, family drama, death, trauma and heartbreak throughout their young lives. Reading their story and learning about life in the UK in the 1980s and early 1990s will make any reader read on to the end.

I really enjoyed this book. I read it every chance I got and finished it on work today since it was going back to the library today. My year is off to a strong start with this one. I felt really connected to the characters and the story. I recommend this one.

Book Review: Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan

 

About

The critically acclaimed novel about four women who learn how to carry on while leaning on each other from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and It's Not All Downhill From Here. When the men in their lives prove less than reliable, Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin find new strength through a rare and enlightening friendship as they struggle to regain stability and an identity they don’t have to share with anyone. Because for the first time in a long time, their dreams are finally OFF hold....“Hilarious, irreverent...Reading Waiting to Exhale is like being in the company of a great friend...thought-provoking, thoroughly entertaining, and very, very comforting.”—The New York Times Book Review

My Thoughts

Having looked at the movie again recently, I realized that I never read this book. Waiting to Exhale was definitely worth it because while the movie was good, I learned more about Savannah, Robin, Gloria and Bernadine by reading their stories.

Waiting to Exhale follows four thirty something African American women as they navigate relationships, divorce, family and careers in the nineties. It spoke to how men (black men in particular) treated their women. I loved how Terry Mc Millan was able to use each character's story and cover challenges that women even today face in finding that special person.

I think this is also a great book about friendship and the importance of having people in your life even if you are single. I enjoyed this book a lot. Also I did not know that this is part of a book series. Perhaps I will read the next book at some point. If you love books from the 90s you can check out this one.