From the Bookshelf of Around the World…

Here Comes the Sun

Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

Discussion: Caribbean

Discussion leader: Lilisa

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 5 topics — 46 comments total

Caribbean

Recommendation
By Janice · 5 posts · 52 views

last updated Jan 26, 2018 01:55PM

Dominican Republic
By Chel · 4 posts · 41 views

last updated Dec 26, 2017 06:16AM

showing 5 of 5 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Oct 19, 2017 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: location-caribbean, intl-bookclub-suggestions, read2017, audiobook, around-the-world, location-jamaica, hoopla

When Lauren W. came on the Reading Envy Podcast as a guest for Episode 097, she brought this book to talk about. It wasn't long before I had to try it, and I'm so glad I did.

How did this book pass me by? It is a novel about three women, all related, trying to make their way in a small community in Jamaica. Delores is the mother and matriarch, working hard to make what money she can, completely dependent on the waves of tourists coming through. Margot, her older daughter, appears to work in the When Lauren W. came on the Reading Envy Podcast as a guest for Episode 097, she brought this book to talk about. It wasn't long before I had to try it, and I'm so glad I did.

How did this book pass me by? It is a novel about three women, all related, trying to make their way in a small community in Jamaica. Delores is the mother and matriarch, working hard to make what money she can, completely dependent on the waves of tourists coming through. Margot, her older daughter, appears to work in the service industry for one of the top hotels, but as the story unveils the truth, you learn that she has been selling herself for money, and has been doing so within the context of her employment. She is saving her money for her younger sister, so Thandi can go to school, become a doctor, and escape this very hard life. But Thandi is more focused on a skin-lightening regimen and working on her art. Because she goes to private Catholic school with students who are above her neighborhood's income level, she walks a confusing line between poverty and privilege.

There are other things going on. The sex worker industry seems to be part of the hidden world of the most successful hotels and resorts, and Margot may not be able to work her way out of that the way she thinks. Not only that, a new resort is poised to move in on the land where her entire community lives, and she may play a role in displacing them. Margot is also in love, and with a woman who has already been shunned by the community, since being gay in Jamaica is still very much against the law and a punishable offense. Her neighbors call her a witch and children are afraid of her. The character of Delores ends up having more secrets than anyone, and I was so impressed by how that story was told, and also how she is pretty much unapologetic for what she has done. What choices do the women in this story have?

It is a very well written story, and asks the reader to confront their own role in these issues. I have visited some of these places mentioned in the book, and feel like I have met a Delores and not bought any of her goods. It raises the need for conscious travel, understanding whether your hotel pays local workers ethically, and whether they turn a blind eye to (or profit from) the trafficking of women and sex.

I listened to the audio based on Lauren's recommendation and was quite pleased at the nuance and performance of the narrator, Bahni Turpin. I will be looking for more of her performances for sure. ...more

83 likes · Like · see review

Dec 09, 2017 Renae rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-literary, read-in-2017, setting-jamaica

In Montego Bay, Jamaica, in the late 90s, a family of women is trapped in the cycle of abuse, poverty, and hopelessness thrust upon them, perpetuated by their own actions. Here Comes the Sun is a dreary, relentlessly somber read. Delores and her daughters, Margot and Thandi, are each seeking to improve their life. But their methods work at cross-purposes, and oftentimes drag each other down instead of life each other up. Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn does not leave readers basking in the sun of a succes ...more

1 like · Like · see review