Here Comes the Sun (2016) How to Love A Jamaican (2018) The Island Of Forgetting (2022) Love After Love (2020) How to Say Babylon (2023) Everything Inside (2019) River Sing Me Home (2023) The Taste of Sugar (2020) What Storm, What Thunder (2021) The Wondrous and Tragic Life of Ivan and Ivana (2020) Why do book collections matter? Book a consultation with a ~personal curator Contact Quick Links Follow us @ultimatelibrary Join our community
Books to Read This Caribbean Heritage Month
2 May 2024
Many visitors have labeled the Caribbean islands as paradise on earth, enchanted by the white sand beaches, crystal-clear waters, and breathtaking coral reefs. Yet, beyond these astonishing landscapes lies a rich history and culturally vibrant community often left unseen by tourists. ~In our ongoing
“What’s on your Bookshelf"
series, Ultimate Library connects with experts and creators to shed light on the literature that has shaped their worldview. In our latest installment, we spotlight Cindy, also known as BookofCinz, a content creator and bookstagrammer. ~In June 2018, Cindy launched the Read Caribbean challenge, coinciding with Caribbean Heritage Month. Throughout the year, Cindy highlights Caribbean voices in her raw and unfiltered book reviews and spearheads a book club with a mission to inspire others to “read, read more, read widely and read Caribbean”. We invited Cindy to curate a list of ten books designed to ignite a passion for Caribbean literature. Covering various genres such as historical fiction, memoir and short stories, each of these contemporary titles celebrates and explores the intricacies of Caribbean life, culture and history.
by Nicole Dennis-Benn
If you have ever been to the Caribbean on a beach vacation, then this is a great read. The book tears back the curtain of what it’s like to work in the tourism industry. We witness how individuals, knowingly or unknowingly feed into this facade of "Jamaica Mi Irie" to accommodate tourists who cannot deal with the "Real Jamaica". Dennis-Benn really captures what it is like for locals living in a tourist capital. Everyone aspires to work at one of the big hotels and once they do, they hardly ever leave. ~
by Alexia Arthurs
How to Love A Jamaican
is a collection of 11 short stories that perfectly captures Jamaica, Jamaican life, culture, history and a bit of folklore in a truly electrifying way. I was so impressed with Alexia Arthur’s writing, she perfectly captures the various nuances of Jamaican culture and its people. If you are looking for a solid collection of short stories that is diverse as much as it is real, then this is perfect for you.
by Jasmine Sealy
The novel starts in 1960s Barbados and ends in the early 2000s. Similar in structure to
Homegoing
by Yaa Gyasi, each chapter introduces a new family member who continues the generational narrative. There is a lot happening but the story does not waiver. Themes of mental health, deferred dreams, regrets, colonialism, colorism, belonging, love, coming of age, exploitation and climate change are sensitively explored. The author does a brilliant job at showing you how these different themes can continue to plague a family for generations.
by Ingrid Persaud
Ingrid Persaud’s writing is beautiful, engaging, nuanced and, at times, hilarious. These well developed characters are people you would want to meet in real life. The author does an amazing job of showing Trinidad and Tobago’s history, culture and country’s current landscape. I enjoyed reading about dating from the perspective of a 40-year-old woman as I don't read a lot about “older” Caribbean women dating and finding love. The real, genuine friendship between Betty and Mr. Chetan is so well explored.
By Safiya Sinclair
Safiya Sinclair’s memoir, shortlisted for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, explores what it is like growing up in a very strict Rastafarian household in Jamaica where she, and especially her sisters, were subjected to numerous rules to maintain their purity. She showcases how this upbringing impacted every part of her life and how she was able to eventually break free. I have read a lot of memoirs and this one shines the brightest. I learned so much about Jamaica’s history with Rastafarianism and I thank Sinclair for shining a light on the Coral Gardens massacre of 1963.~
by Edwidge Danticat
This collection of short stories is filled with complex characters each dealing with obstacles that they must navigate. I am such a fan of Danticat's writing, and I found myself being immersed in this collection and the lives of the people represented on the pages. Danticat knows Haiti and, when I pick up her book, I know I’ll long for a place that I have never visited. The stories explore immigration, family life, relationships, poverty, courage and shame in a real and vulnerable way. ~
by Eleanor Shearer
River Sing Me Home
is a captivating debut novel set during the 1830s that transports the reader to Barbados, British Guiana (now Guyana) and Trinidad and Tobago. The book opens with Rachel, an enslaved mother, running away from Providence plantation in Barbados. Even when the Emancipation Act of 1834 is announced and declares she is no longer enslaved, the slave master has other plans for her. Rachel decides she will never be free, unless she runs. Rachel wants to find her five children who were taken from her in the most gruesome way. Written with so much heart, the author skillfully conveys the experience of a mother ripped from her five children. The bravery displayed, all in the name of love, left me feeling really hopeful.~
by Marisel Vera
The Taste of Sugar
spans seven decades as Marisel Vera takes you on an unforgettable journey starting in 1825, Puerto Rico and finishing in 1902, Hawaii. Opening against the backdrop of Utando’s coffee region, the Vega family struggles to maintain their small farm. I loved learning more about Puerto Rico’s history. It is clear the author did her research. I learned so much and, if you are interested in Puerto Rican history, I strongly suggest you pick this book up.~
by Myriam J.A. Chancy
Told from the perspectives of different characters living and working in Port-au-Prince when the 2010 earthquake shook. Chancy takes us deep into the lives of each character as they experience this disaster and try to rebuild. We hear from an old market vendor, abandoned by her expatriate son, her granddaughter who works for an NGO, a Trinidadian drug dealer, a Haitian musician living in Boston and a mother who lost all her children. The author does an amazing job at telling each story with care. I could not put this novel down. ~
by Maryse Condé
The book opens with the birth of twins Ivan and Ivana on the French Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe. Born into a single parent family to their mother Simone, they only hear stories of their father, a famous musician, who currently lives in Mali. During their teenage years, Ivan ends up being imprisoned at least twice whilst Ivana works hard to win a scholarship to attend a police academy in Paris. Conde tackles colorism, poverty, colonialism, racism, terrorism, incest, migration, immigration in contemporary Guadeloupe, Paris and Mali. You get a vibrant look into the lives of these two characters, and feel for their impending demise. ~
A big thank you to Cindy for recommending some of her favourite Caribbean authors. For more of Cindy’s reviews, recommendations and how to
#ReadCaribbean
this June, check out her
Instagram
and
website
. ~
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