Nicole & Me

Hello NCBC,

I was out and about in these Florida streets and Friday night I made my way back to Books & Books bookstore in Miami/Coral

Gables and sat in on a conversation between Nicole Dennis-Benn and moderator Edwidge Danticat. Both are phenomenal women (and writers) - their friendship and love of their craft were apparent throughout their discourse. Edwidge is of Haitian descent and Nicole is of Jamaican descent yet their experiences

involving immigration, adjusting to life in America, the positive and negative attitudes and expectations from their families and countrymen were eerily similar on so many levels.

There were about 50 people (overwhelmingly women) in attendance including a book club comprised seemingly of Jamaican-American women. She read two passages from her latest novel (and our July Book-of-the-Month), Patsy: The first was from the opening pages describing Patsy’s quest for a visa at the American Embassy and the second was an extended dialogue between a depressed Patsy and Cicely. Edwidge and members from the audience asked some very probing questions - here are some of the outtakes I remember (in no particular order) -- no one was taking notes, so I didn’t either -- this is from memory:

• Becoming a Writer. Both Edwidge and Nicole reminisced about the pressure to enter respectable professions (medicine (Doctor), law (Attorney), engineering, etc); and Nicole indicated she was the first selected in her family to study abroad so she obliged and studied pre-med as an undergraduate. She’s always been a writer from childhood and wrote in her journals throughout college. When she didn’t get into medical school, her girlfriend (who eventually become her wife) encouraged her to pursue an MFA and encouraged her to continue writing since she was very good at it and she absolutely loved it - it calmed her throughout college. The rest is history...her debut, Here Comes the Sun, was extrapolated from old journaled stories and became a hit. She joked that the accolades/awards and overwhelming success of the first novel pleased her parents.

• Airing (Jamaica’s) Dirty Laundry. Both of her published novels and the one she’s currently working on contains Jamaican characters (who speak patois - much to the chagrin of some Jamaican readers), Jamaican experiences and reference island-specific cultural and social attitudes, viewpoints, etc. which might not always be positive, popular, and/or progressive. In short, Jamaica might not always be presented in the best light. She and others were concerned about her airing Jamaica’s “dirty laundry,” but Marlon James’ reminded her that the Jamaican tourist industry is not paying her -- so write whatever she wants! LOL! Leaning on his advice, she has no regrets doing so in her stories/novels. To her critics regarding the use of patois: as long as there are Jamaican characters, she will employ the use patois, Jamaican expressions, idioms, etc. as she pleases because it adds a layer of authenticity - it’s simply how Jamaican people talk. Some of the taboo/dirty laundry topics:

• Homosexuality. As a child, she felt like she was the only lesbian on the entire island. No one talked about it; it was hidden and she never saw it. Homosexuality was condemned by the church, so for years she thought something as wrong with her but had no one to talk to about it. She suppressed her feelings until she came to the US for college. When she married her wife in the US; she noted how many couples travel to her beautiful Jamaica to have destination weddings and wanted to recite her vows in her own country in a very private ceremony to include her culture into her marriage. Somehow the press was notified and hers became the first “Lesbian Wedding” in all of Jamaica.

• Colorism. Light vs dark skin and the advantages and disadvantages of both is old hat - we’ve discussed it before as it occurred in literature. She made note that both characters, Mama G and Patsy, had their white/light worship: Mama G had her (white) Jesus adoration and Patsy, being “favored” by a light-skinned, long-haired Cicely felt it was an honor to be befriended by the light (which by default translates to “pretty”) girl and would not do anything to jeopardize her “chosen” status with disastrous results.

• Motherhood. The book explores the notion that all women are not natural-born “nurturers” or self-sacrificing mothers for the sake of their children. She noted that if abortion were legal and available, Patsy would have opted to abort Tru. Patsy verbalized this - something that the author says women are shamed or villainized for even entertaining the thought let alone speaking about the regrets of having children, hating getting or being pregnant, or becoming a mother. Mothers are scorned if they ever wish aloud that they never had children or wish for a miraculous ‘do-over’ so they could return to their childless status. She compared and contrasted how Mama G was a physically-present parent, but emotionally abusive to Patsy; how Patsy was a physically-present mother, but emotionally-distant and felt she actually enhanced Tru’s life by leaving her with her biological father as he was both physically- and emotionally-present for Tru. She also spent time with Tru as a “left behind” child of a mother who goes abroad and incorporates the feelings of abandonment and the subsequent childhood resentment and depression that resulted from the separation.

• Racism and Immigrant Experiences. There were many Jamaicans in the audience who said the book was very relatable from the standpoint of Patsy and Tru (many empathized with Tru as they were children who were left behind by parents who went abroad to work). The experiences at the embassies, the barrels that were sent home with goods from overseas, the bewilderment of arriving in a “new” country: different accents, food, and things/jobs weren’t as glamorous/grand as it was described or promised. She mentioned the daily microaggressions from other African Americans and/or Whites are oftentimes worst than overt discrimination and are a contributing cause of depression in adults and children.

• An Italian-American woman voiced that her Italian mother had the same experiences referenced in the book; thus the international appeal.

• Depression. This is an intentional and pervasive sub-theme in the book because it’s an often untreated condition that many immigrants experience. She briefly commented on how (Jamaican) national pride is sometimes affected because of its limited resource/job pools, strained economy, and the poor infrastructure force many of the island’s residents to seek opportunities elsewhere to earn a living. Many leave not by choice, but by necessity.

• Photo Op & Book Signing. Of course, I got my books signed and took a quick photo to keep the line moving. She was very friendly and personable - very humble and appreciative to all the readers/supporters. I was a bit disappointed that her time was limited (they had another event scheduled immediately after her session) but she was open to additional questions during her signing in another room. I told her to let us know if she’s ever in the Orlando area and she agreed. I’d love to have NCBC host her!

#books