After a personal tragedy upends his world, American-born artist Chris travels to his mother’s homeland in the Caribbean hoping to find some peace and tranquility. He plans to spend his time painting in solitude and coming to terms with his recent loss and his fractured relationship with his father. Instead, he discovers a new extended and complicated “family,” with their own startling stories, including a love triangle. The people he meets help him to heal, even as he supports them in unexpected ways, through his art.
Told from different points of view, this is a compelling novel about unlikely love, friendship, and community, with several surprises along the way. The story takes place against the backdrop of rural Jamaica, New York City, and Paris, France.
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“Under her deceptively revealing title, Alecia McKenzie recreates Jamaica’s enduring traditions in fresh and illuminating ways that make this one of the most avant-garde fictions I have read in a long time.”
— Curdella Forbes, author of A Tall History of Sugar
“An emotionally resonant ode to adopted families and community resilience.”
— New York Times Book Review“Delightfully original.”
— Ms. magazine“Emotional, enthralling, and heartfelt…A story of loss and the infinite types of love.”
— Woman’s World“The audiobook shines with an impeccable dual narration…A stunning audio for those who enjoy global, multigenerational family dramas.”
— Booklist (audio review)“This bighearted narrative of love, loss, and family is handled with grace and beauty.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)“The writing is evocative, capturing vivid details…[of] racial identity, nonfamilial relationships, and the restorative nature of art.”
— Booklist (starred review)“Through captivating character studies, quiet lovely writing and deceptively simple storytelling, McKenzie illuminates basic commonalities and rethinks what family and home mean.”
— Shelf Awareness“An elegantly written and emotionally engrossing work of fiction.”
— Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize–winning authorBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Alecia McKenzie is a Jamaican writer currently based in France. Her first collection of short stories, Satellite City, and her novel, Sweetheart, have both won Commonwealth Writers prizes. Sweetheart has been translated into French and was awarded the Prix Carbet des Lycéens in 2017. Her other books include Stories from Yard, Doctor’s Orders, and When the Rain Stopped in Natland. McKenzie’s work has appeared in a range of literary magazines and in anthologies such as Stories from Blue Latitudes, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, Bridges, Global Tales, Girls Night In, and To Exist Is to Resist. She edited a collection of contemporary Jamaican short stories and co-edited Where We Started: Stories of Living Between Worlds, an anthology of writing from different countries.
Robin Miles, named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, has twice won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, an Audie Award for directing, and many Earphones Awards. Her film and television acting credits include The Last Days of Disco, Primary Colors, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order, New York Undercover, National Geographic’s Tales from the Wild, All My Children, and One Life to Live. She regularly gives seminars to members of SAG and AFTRA actors’ unions, and in 2005 she started Narration Arts Workshop in New York City, offering audiobook recording classes and coaching. She holds a BA degree in theater studies from Yale University, an MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama, and a certificate from the British American Drama Academy in England.
Robin Miles, named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, has twice won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, an Audie Award for directing, and many Earphones Awards. Her film and television acting credits include The Last Days of Disco, Primary Colors, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order, New York Undercover, National Geographic’s Tales from the Wild, All My Children, and One Life to Live. She regularly gives seminars to members of SAG and AFTRA actors’ unions, and in 2005 she started Narration Arts Workshop in New York City, offering audiobook recording classes and coaching. She holds a BA degree in theater studies from Yale University, an MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama, and a certificate from the British American Drama Academy in England.