Jamaica / Special Interests / Recommended reading

There is a lot to read about Jamaica, with a surprising and satisfying amount by Jamaican authors, and in good range too, from the journals of travellers in colonial times, through comic authors and poets to serious contemporary writers.

Two early travelogues of Jamaica are Lady Nugent’s Journal of Residence in Jamaica 1801-3 and the Journal of a West Indian Proprietor by Matthew “Monk” Lewis (he was famous for his gothic novel, The Monk). His journal was written in 1834 and published after his death at sea on his return from the West Indies.

Andrew Salkey’s, A Quality of Violence looks into life in a Jamaican village during a drought at the start of the 20th Century. Roger Mais also wrote books about Jamaican country life at around the same time. The best known of his books are The Hills are Joyful Together, Black Lightning and Brother Man. Also look out for VS Reid (New Day). John Hearne’s excellent short book Voices Under the Window gives a very colourful description of the mercurial nature of the Jamaicans in the frenzy of a crowd. On a cheerier note, one of the loveliest memoirs of Jamaica from this generation is Morris Cargill’s Jamaica Farewell, which is a very touching read.

It might come as a surprise, but James Bond originated in Jamaica. Ian Fleming used to winter in the island, at his home in Oracabessa called Goldeneye, which is now a small Island Outpost hotel. The Bond character had many adventures - and a few scrapes of course - in Jamaica, the Bahamas and in Haiti, and several of the Bond films were made in these islands, including Live and Let Die, Dr No and Thunderball. In fact, even Bond’s name was from the Caribbean. The original James Bond was a bird-watcher of a different kind from the famous spy, an ornithologist, the author of The Birds of the West Indies, which was the standard work on Caribbean birds for many years. It was first published in 1936 and went into many editions with different publishers.

There is some good contemporary literature coming out of Jamaica. Authors include Opal Adisa Palmer (try Bake Face); Olive Senior (Summer Lightning and The Arrival of Snake Woman); and Christine Craig (Mint Tea and Other Stories). Margaret Cezair-Thompson’s, A True History of Paradise, paints a detailed portrait of middle class life in a difficult period in the 1970s. Other contemporary authors include Colin Channer (Satisfy my Soul, Waiting in Vain and Passing Through) and Patricia Powell (A Small Gathering of Bones, Me Dying Trial). Osmund James produces gritty and poplar writing, novels including Bangarang at Carnival and Tough Girls Don’t Dance.

There are even some comic book coming out of the island. Anthony Winkler, a Jamaican who lectures in the States has written several hilarious books about Jamaican life, including The Painted Canoe, The Lunatic, The Great Yacht Race and The Duppy. His Going Home to Teach is the story of a spell spent teaching back in Jamaica. His latest book is The Annihilation of Fish and Other Stories, many of which are equally fun and funny. Another lovely book, which catches the small eccentricities of Jamaican life is One People by Guy Kennaway. Slightly less successful as a book, but a revealing story of the development of Negril is Banana Shout, by Mark Conklin, who set up and ran a hotel of the same name for many years. Please see an article with reviews of several of these books. Also on a light note, there are some historical novels written in the form of bodice-rippers by HG de Lisser, including Morgan’s Daughter, The White Witch of Rose Hall and Psyche.

Jamaican poets include Lorna Goodison (I am Becoming my Mother, Baby Mother and The King of Swords), Mervyn Morris and Claude McKay. Louise Bennet is extremely funny on Jamaican love, life and everything. Try Jamaica Labrish.

For a literary tour of Kingston, try the Cities of the Imagination series, Kingston, by David Howard.

The winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2005, Small Island by Andrea Levy, is actually set in Britain, but draws heavily on Jamaica.