Capturing the distinct rhythms of Jamaican life and dialect, Nicole Dennis- Benn pens a tender hymn to a world hidden among pristine beaches and the wide expanse of turquoise seas. At an opulent resort in Montego Bay, Margot hustles to send her younger sister, Thandi, to school. Taught as a girl to trade her sexuality for survival, Margot is ruthlessly determined to shield Thandi from the same fate. When plans for a new hotel threaten their village, Margot sees not only an opportunity for her own financial independence but also perhaps a chance to admit a shocking secret: her forbidden love for another woman. As they face the impending destruction of their community, each woman—fighting to balance the burdens she shoulders with the freedom she craves—must confront long-hidden scars. From a much-heralded new writer, Here Comes the Sun offers a dramatic glimpse into a vibrant, passionate world most outsiders see simply as paradise.
This book felt very skeletal to me. There were a lot of themes the author touched on: colourism, same-sex relationships in extremely homophobic societies, intergenerational/inherited trauma, tourism as neocolonialism, sex tourism. Yet I felt as though each of the themes was very surface-level, never explored in any satisfactory way, never coming to any strong conclusion. I usually enjoy novels made up of multiple character perspectives, but I thought it was obvious that the primary (and interesting) story was the relationship between the two sisters, which made the other POVs extraneous and exasperating. Though this book was set in the mid-90s, there was no sense of atmosphere that made it seem truly of that time. It just wasn't particularly well-developed in general. I'm not mad that the book was unrelentingly bleak, but sometimes it was just melodramatic, depressing solely for the purpose of being depressing. I also didn't particularly like the writing; it felt like it was trying a bit too hard to be lyrical, but the effort was visible. Definitely a disappointing one for me!
