Book Review: How To Love A Jamaican
I loved this book!
Alexia Arthur’s debut book of amazing short stories was one of my favorite books this year. She is such a great writer. Each story deals with the different identities represented in the Jamaican diaspora. One of the common themes in the stories is the important role of Jamaican mothers, aunts, and grandmothers in families. My maternal grandmother died when my mother was still a child, so she was raised by her grandmother. My mom would always say that she is the woman she is today because of her grandmother.
In “Bad Behavior,” Arthurs discusses the complicated relationship that occurs when a couple sends their teenage daughter to be raised by her grandmother in Jamaica to try to tame her sexually aggressive or “slack” ways. In “Mash Up,” the protagonist tries to find out why his mother has a more supportive relationship with his ne’er-do-well twin brother than with him, who has lived a more outstanding life.
The first story, “Light-skinned Girls and Kelly Rowland,” struck a nerve. The black women only dated white men and only used black men to make their ex-white boyfriends jealous. I have heard this story way too many times in my life. I actually knew a couple of Jamaican women like this when I was in college…
The last story, “Shirley from a Small Place,” feels more like the story of Rihanna, who is from Barbados. It is about a rock star who deals with her famous life in America but goes home to Jamaica, where her mother still sees her as just her daughter.
The whole book was awesome, and I highly recommend it!