Book Review: Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

Review of Here Comes the Sun, a novel by Nicole Dennis-Benn, published June 2, 2016, Norton

I didn't think I'd want to finish the book, but as I kept reading it pulled me in - the characters, the story, the writing. This is a candid look at some of the lives of the less fortunate local people who live behind the scenes in the Jamaican tourist industry, the ones who serve in the hotels and cater to the tourists, legally or not. It also looks at the island culture of homophobia, prejudice, superstition, and lack of opportunity and education that keep many miserable and hold them back. I didn't think I'd want to finish the book, but as I kept reading it pulled me in - the vivid characters, the story, the, at times, poetic writing. This is a candid look at some of the lives of the less fortunate local people who live behind the scenes in the Jamaican tourist industry, the ones who serve in the hotels and cater to the tourists, legally or not. It also looks at the island culture of homophobia, superstition, and lack of opportunity and education that keep many miserable and hold them back. You won't look at the local people the same way the next time you vacation in paradise! Written by a Jamaican-American who knows the island, the dialect, and its life rhythms. I recommend the book for all readers interested in the Caribbean.

First Chapter: Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

Every Tuesday Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph, Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two, from a book you are reading or will be reading soon.

Today's book I got yesterday from the library after seeing it by chance. I'm really enjoying it, a book set in Jamaica, written by a Jamaican-American writer and teacher now living in Brooklyn.

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn, June 2, 2016, Norton
"Capturing the distinct rhythms of Jamaican life and dialect..." Margot works at a hotel in Montego Bay to support her mother Delores and her younger sister Thandi, whom she wants to further her education to lift herself out of relative poverty.

Margot herself is a clandestine member of the gay community and will probably have to leave the homophobic island culture at some time. As I read along, I'm waiting to see if this happens.

First paragraph:
The long hours Margot works at the hotel are never documented. Her real work is not in answering the telephones that ring off the hook, or writing up delinquent housekeepers for sleeping on the beds and watching TV when they're supposed to be cleaning. Her real work is after hours when everyone had bid their goodbyes and piled up in the white Corollas --robot taxis -- at the massive gate of the resort, which will take them home to their shabby neighborhoods, away from the fantasy they help create about a country where they are as important as washed-up seaweed.

What do you think? Would you read on?
 

Book Review: Pao, a Novel by Kerry Young

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to choose sentences at random from your current read. Identify the author and title for readers.

As I watch the ship sail away I realise that I would never leave Jamaica. Never. I was committed to her, for good or bad, rich or poor, in sickness and in health. (ch. 7)

Title: Pao: A Novel by Kerry Young
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; July 5, 2011
Source: personal copy

Publisher's description of PAO: As a young boy, Pao comes to Jamaica in the wake of the Chinese Civil War and rises to become the Godfather of Kingston's bustling Chinatown. Pao needs to take care of some dirty business, but he is no Don Corleone. The rackets he runs are small-time, and the protection he provides necessary, given the minority status of the Chinese in Jamaica. Pao, in fact, is a sensitive guy in a wise guy role that doesn't quite fit. Often mystified by all that he must take care of, Pao invariably turns to Sun Tzu's Art of War. The juxtaposition of the weighty, aphoristic words of the ancient Chinese sage, with the tricky criminal and romantic predicaments Pao must negotiate builds the basis of the novel's great charm.

A tale of post-colonial Jamaica from a unique and politically potent perspective, Pao moves from the last days of British rule through periods of unrest at social and economic inequality, through tides of change that will bring about Rastafarianism and the Back to Africa Movement. Pao is an utterly beguiling, unforgettable novel of race, class and creed, love and ambition, and a country in the throes of tumultuous change.

About the author: Kerry Young was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Chinese-African mother and a Chinese father-a businessman in Kingston's shadow economy who provided inspiration for Pao. Young moved to England in 1965 at the age of ten. She earned her MA in creative writing at Nottingham Trent University. This is her first novel. Formore information about Kerry, visit http://www.kerryyoung.co.uk/

Guest reviewer, Kathi Harris, has this review about the novel, Pao.
The book PAO by Kerry Young brought to mind fond memories of life in Jamaica. It is PAO'S story, told by him in a Jamaican voice. It is also a historical novel. Though I grew up in Jamaica, this book taught me quite a bit about the Chinese in Jamaica.

Pao arrives in Jamaica from China in the mid 1940s, with his mom and brother, after the Chinese civil war in which his father dies. Zhang is Pao's father's friend who came to Jamaica some time ago. Zhang is Godfather in Jamaica's Chinatown, and provides to Pao and his family, a place to stay and his protection.

Pao starts out as a kid just helping his uncle in his business.The fact that some of this business is illegal puts him on a path that leads to his becoming the biggest and baddest crime figure in Jamaica's Chinatown - Mathews lane. While on this journey Pao fathers three children from his wife and his long-time mistress. He tries to be a good father. He was a good provider.

Pao isn't such a bad guy, even though he eventually takes Zhang's place as Godfather in Jamaica's Chinatown. He is a strong enforcer of the rules in this organized criminality - almost like the Italian mob. But he is still a compassionate and caring man to his friends, family and people who need his help.

Kathi Harris is the author of the novel Medusa The Beginning. A part of her book is also set in Jamaica.

Medusa: The Beginning by Kathi Harris

Kathi Harris's Medusa: The Beginning is a sci-fi novel published in 2007. It describes the rise of an African-American to the presidency of the United States in the middle of troubled times.

"Many of you have already accepted the fact that I am African American and realize my color makes no difference in my ability to lead or to inspire..."

The preceding is an excerpt from the novel, part of the president's acceptance speech.

The author is truly excited that her book has been so predictive of what has happened in America in 2008. To see more of the speech and learn more about her book, visit Kathi Harris's Book Corner, Lake Tales
or Lark Song


YOUR VIEWS: Does Obama's win change people's perception of race?

Medusa: The Beginning, book review

Kathi Harris's Medusa: The Beginning is a 730-page novel, divided into several sections, the first section set in the West Indian island of Jamaica, where Kathi was born and raised. Here she details the lives of two young people from the countryside who meet in the capital city, Kingston, where they marry and raise a family of five girls, the last girl later becoming the heroine of this science fiction novel.

The first section, 221 pages, I would call "The Quintessential Jamaican Novel," were it a book in itself. The story reflects Jamaican customs and manners in detail, and the dialect or patois spoken and understood by all Jamaicans is used heavily in this section. Kathi has added a glossary for all readers, which "translates" some of the dialect words and expressions into standard English.

In the second section of the book, the family migrates to America and settles in Florida. There they encounter life and the culture of a different country, but more opportunities open up to them. This section deals with American politics at home and abroad and tackles global problems such as pollution, changes in the environment, and introduces in her novel, a Black president!

Kathi's website, Larksong, gives a summary of the novel's plot and the importance of the young girl, Lark, to this sci-fi story of the survival of mankind.

A higher education and counseling graduate from the University of Toledo, where she received her Ph.D., she admits she prefers writing to just about anything else and is now waiting to publish Book II in the Medusa series.

An article from the London Times discusses how sci fi can point to the things we should be concerned about:
Why Don't We Love Science Fiction:

Book provided by the author for my objective review.

Reggae Routes: the Story of Jamaican Music by Kevin O'Brien Chang and Wayne Chen

I did some web searching and found an interesting article on the little known connection between reggae development in Jamaica and some of the Chinese Jamaicans, children of immigrants, who helped develop the movement in Jamaica as musicians and as record producers.

See the fascinating story at
http://www.danwei.org/chinese_reggae_pioneers.php.

The website also refers to a book on the history of Jamaican music titled Reggae Routes, the Story of Jamaican Music, written by Jamaicans Kevin O'Brien Chang and Wayne Chen.

A discussion of the book from a Temple University website: http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1443_reg_print.html