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2000s: Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2018
2000s: Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2018
In this radiant, highly anticipated debut, a cast of unforgettable women battle for independence while a maelstrom of change threatens their Jamaican village.
There is a world hidden among pristine beaches and the wide expanse of turquoise seas. At an opulent resort in Montego Bay, Margot hustles to send her younger sister, Thandi, to school. Taught as a girl to trade her sexuality for survival, Margot is ruthlessly determined to shield Thandi from the same fate.
When plans for a new hotel threaten the destruction of their community, each woman – fighting to balance the burdens she shoulders with the freedom she craves – must confront long-hidden scars.
Oh if the scene setting doesn’t immediately transport you then the language will. When Delores is at the market:
Dis raatid heat is no joke. Yuh know I been standin’ in it all day? Bwoy, t’ings haa’d
A traditional town and community spirit and the author’s hometown which you can tell is in her heart and soul as well as her pen. She writes about the town with love and attention, her “beloved homeland”
Thandi lives in the fictional town of Ruver Bank but there is River Bay which is on the outskirts of Montego Bay and has lived here all her life.
The sense of community here and changing financial fortunes is clear:
“Mr Levy’s Wholesale and Dino’s are the only two businesses left since the seafood shacks closed down The construction and the drought have not only driven the fisherman out of work, but one of River Bank, Leaving behind a community with not much to live off besides the highly taxes groceries each month at Mr Levy’s”
“Mr Levy’s Wholesale has been around since the beginning of time, it seems.”
Destination: Montego Bay, Jamaica Author/Guide: Nicole Dennis-Benn Departure Time: 2000s
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