Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Here Comes the Sun | 2016 | Nicole Dennis-Benn | Buy |
| 2 | Patsy | 2019 | Nicole Dennis-Benn | Buy |
Nicole Dennis-Benn has published two standalone novels, both set in Jamaican communities and both receiving significant critical recognition. Here Comes the Sun (2016) is set in Montego Bay, following several women — including a hotel worker and her younger sister — as they navigate the demands of Jamaica’s tourist economy and their own desires and ambitions. The book won the Lambda Literary Award and multiple other honors on publication.
Patsy (2019) shifts focus to immigration, following a Jamaican woman who moves to New York City in pursuit of a new life and a reconnection with an old love, leaving her young daughter in Jamaica in the process. The novel examines the cost of that choice for both mother and daughter, and won a second Lambda Literary Award for Dennis-Benn.
Both novels are praised for their unflinching portrayal of economic hardship, sexuality, and the specific social pressures facing women in Jamaican communities at home and in the diaspora. They can be read in any order, as they have no shared characters or plot connections.