Nicole Dennis-Benn

Book on CD narrated by Sharon Gordon.

This novel follows Patsy, a young Jamaican mother of a 5-year-old girl, Tru, as she makes her way to America and tries to find a better life for herself. However, in order to find herself and achieve her potential, she must leave her daughter back in Jamaica, in the care of her father, a man Patsy never married, and with whom she’s had little contact. But leaving Tru with Roy is much better than leaving her with Patsy’s mother, Mamma G, a woman who show more has given all her pension to the Church hoping that Jesus will save her.

This story is in turns heartbreaking and inspiring. I applaud Patsy’s determination, courage, inventiveness and work ethic, but have difficulty forgiving her for leaving her child in Jamaica. Her guilt at this no-win choice is palpable and heart-wrenching. Her inability to deal with the very real results of her decision made me want to shake her. And then, I would feel so sorry for her – for the difficulty she faced when her dream was proved to be just that, a dream with no real basis in reality, for her struggles to survive, to find housing and work, for her misguided attempts to find even a little happiness and a sense of self-worth.

Dennis-Benn alternates points of view giving the reader insight into Tru’s life back in Jamaica. Her inability to understand how her mother could leave her, the sliver of hope a Christmas card conveys, and the defeat she feels when she finally accepts that her mother is not coming back. , My heart breaks over and over for Tru as she grows to her teens and hides her pain and sense of responsibility for her mother’s decisions.

But lest you think this is a depressing story, be aware that I loved these characters, even though I didn’t always like them. Despite all the hardship, all the bad decisions and failures to communicate, ultimately there is some triumph and some sense of hope.

Sharon Gordon does a marvelous job of voicing the audiobook. Dennis-Benn uses a vernacular patois dialogue in much of the book, and I found it difficult to make out the sense in those few sections that I chose to read in text format. Gordon’s performance made it easier for me to absorb and understand those lilting Jamaican accents. She really brought these characters to life for me. show less

Review originally posted on my blog, Musings of a Bookish Kitty:
http://www.literaryfeline.com/2016/12/bookish-thoughts-here-comes-sun-by.html

I am not sure what to say about this novel. It has left me feeling a bit raw. Bhani Turpin's narration was brilliant. I am really glad I chose to listen to the audio version despite my also having a print copy. The writing is beautiful, but the subject matter is rather dark . . . and uncomfortable. I work in a field that in recent years has put a lot of show more focus on human trafficking, particularly of under age youth. The subject matter is not new to me, and so I imagine some of what was covered in this book was less shocking to me than it might to be other readers. Or perhaps not. The reader really gets a look at the darker side behind the scenes, so to speak, of Jamaica and its tourist scene.

Let me just say there are no perfect characters in this book. They are deeply flawed. They are shaped by their experiences, have lived hard and difficult lives, and the choices they make are not always the best ones--not for themselves or for others. Sometimes their intentions are meant well; sometimes decisions are made out of desperation.

Margot was a victim of a fate she was unable to escape. She uses what she has learned to her advantage, stepping on toes as she goes. While some might call her a strong woman, I felt she was lost and her strength rather fragile. Margot's lover, Verdene, comes the closest to breaking down the wall around Margot's heart. After years off abuse as a child, trafficked by someone who was supposed to protect her, Margot does not love easily. I can see why Margot makes the choices she makes, in part to raise herself and her sister out of the poverty they grew up in and out of the life she's been living, and yet many of those choices made my heart hurt. Frankly, my heart hurt a lot as I listened to Here Comes the Sun.

Thandi is also lost, on a path she would rather not be on, one her mother and sister have chosen for her. She is struggling to find her own identity. She bleaches her skin to make her skin lighter--having most of her life been told that black is ugly. On scholarship to a prestigious high school, she longs to fit in, but never quite does. She takes comfort in her art and in her friendship with a local boy, much to her family's consternation. I really liked Thandi, and, like those who loved her, I wanted most to see her succeed.

This book made me feel some very strong emotions from sadness to anger: from colorism to racism, homophobia, misogyny, sexual abuse, human trafficking, classism and poverty. Dennis-Benn lays it all out there in a very real and raw way. Alfonso is the picture of white privilege who did not hesitate to use it or his wealth to get his way. Verdene only wants to love and be loved and yet she is met with prejudice and was ostracized. Thandi hated the color of her own skin, growing up in a home and culture where black is considered less than--and even ugly. I have such mixed feelings about Margot and everything she went through and did . . . I could go on and on. This isn't a book I will soon forget. Here Comes the Sun will not appeal to everyone, but it is a deeply moving book that will break your heart over and over again. It was impossible not to get swept up in the stories of the characters, both major and minor, and lost in the rhythm of the narration and writing. show less

This is well crafted, but it is overwhelmingly depressing. Almost the opposite of a positive feminist agenda, we see a family of women who seem to strive to survive by exploitation. That's exploitation of each other and other women. Margot works at a hotel, and has slept her way into a position of some responsibility. She then moves on to act as a madam for the hotel and provides the tourists (white) with a string of local (black) beauties. There is abuse of various forms, homosexuality is show more frowned upon and those partaking ostracised. You could argue that these women are only trying to survive by any means possible, taking advantage of the situation they find themselves in. It is grim and depressing, but so well written that I never thought once of stopping. Just don't expect any sign of redemption at the end, there isn't any. Good but I would not describe it as enjoyable. show less

Another depressing read! Despite the strong characterisation and vividly described setting, I just couldn't muster enough interest in the story, which took an age to get through. Dolores and her two teenage daughters, Margot and Thandi, are facing the destruction of their poor village in Jamaica, with plans for a new tourist hotel right on their doorstep. Both Dolores and Margot have burdened the youngest daughter, Thandi, with their hopes for the future, sending her to a good school and show more forcing her to give up art for science. Margot is selling herself and other girls at the hotel where she works in Montego Bay to pay for her sister's schooling, trying to keep her safe from Dolores and the same mercenary betrayal that she faced at a younger age. But while sleeping with the boss to get a promotion, Margot yearns for the company of Verdene, the neighbourhood 'witch', shunned and punished for once being caught with a woman. Nearly every woman in the story has been raped by a man, usually while underage, yet even the hint of a same sex relationship is punished with biblical wrath! Jamaica, what a place!

The tropical heat and torpor of daily life in Jamaica are almost tangible in Nicole Dennis-Benn's writing, and I really felt for poor Thandi, trying to bleach her skin so that men will find her attractive, but the level of poverty for these women - living in a shack and selling themselves and each other for a ticket out of 'paradise' - just depressed me beyond words. And the ending doesn't even offer any resolution - we learn what happens to Margot, but not Thandi, whose outcome I was most invested in. show less