September 5, 2022
The characters in Irving’s penetrating collection (after the novel Quint), many of whom are Jamaican Canadians, navigate the persistent hurdles of their family relationships as they attempt to build new lives while reckoning with the past. In “Waking Life,” Jamaican Canadian travel writer Po meets her Jamaican British mother, Janice, for the first time since early childhood, and her mother’s uncompromising independence fuels Po’s hope of keeping alive her own fragile romantic relationship. In “Canal,” a Jamaican Panamanian Canadian woman, Pilar, travels to Panama from Canada to settle her childhood maid’s affairs, realizing only as an adult that it was her maid’s history as a Holocaust survivor that shaped the fierce protection she gave Pilar during the 1965 riots that led to her family’s emigration. “It is hard to be the last one left,” Pilar thinks. Throughout, and in lucid prose, Irving depicts her characters’ chilly shocks over unexpected gaps in intimacy with their loved ones as they work to fit into non-immigrant Black spaces, making for stories that are both class-conscious and richly atmospheric. Irving’s inviting combination of subjects and style heralds a welcome new voice. Agent: Paul Lucas, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.
Starred review from June 10, 2024
Chant� McCormick smoothly narrates Irving's (Quint) 10 stories centering on women from the Jamaican diaspora. Rooted in various countries, including Canada, Jamaica, Panama, and Germany, this must-listen collection details how classism, colonialism, and assimilation affect the lives and interpersonal relationships of the characters. In one story, a couple with high debt leaves California for Florida, hoping to save their marriage. In another, a woman returns to Panama decades after leaving during the 1964 Flag Riots to settle the affairs of her family's former maid. McCormick deftly uses various accents throughout as the stories move beyond North America. Her direct delivery, regardless of the setting, is a perfect choice for characters at a crossroads. The standout is "Some People," in which Kerry, the American-born child of Jamaican immigrants, reluctantly invites a fellow PTA mother and family to a home-cooked Jamaican dinner at her suburban home. McCormick's vocals seethe with indignation and, later, resignation as Kerry realizes during the meal that she has become the type of person her mother talks disparagingly about: someone who has lost sight of her culture. VERDICT These stories will resonate with listeners and are excellent for book clubs. Pair with Omolola Ogunyemi's Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions. --Anjelica Rufus-Barnes
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