How to Love a Jamaican

Praise

“[Alexia] Arthurs’s collection of short stories tackles the immigrant experience, exploring it through the prism of family. One particular story that’s sure to attract buzz: ‘Shirley from a Small Place,’ in which a world-famous pop star—based on Rihanna—retreats to her mother’s new house in her birthplace of Jamaica.”—Entertainment Weekly

“With its singular mix of psychological precision and sun-kissed lyricism, this dazzling debut marks the emergence of a knockout new voice.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“I am utterly taken with these gorgeous, tender, heartbreaking stories. Arthurs is a witty, perceptive, and generous writer, and this is a book that will last.”—Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties

“Arthurs’s debut is vivid and exciting, and every story rings beautifully true.”—Marie Claire

“Arthurs complicates the very idea of a unifying national identity. She paints a disparate but not disjointed portrait of a complex national and diasporic landscape. To love any one Jamaican, Arthurs implies, you must first learn them.”—The Atlantic

“How to Love a Jamaican explores subjects ranging from identity and what it means to be a woman, to heritage and what it means to be Jamaican.”—Vanity Fair (“Carry These New Books with You Wherever You Go”)

“The stories hum with tension and nuance, creating characters desperate to be understood but wary of being defined simply by their race or origins.”—Associated Press

“In this book, there’s no single way to be Jamaican—the definition of the word itself expands to encompass each person who claims it.”—The Paris Review

“Equal parts relatable and thought-provoking, providing an in-depth look at how much living within and outside of borders dictates who we are.”—Shondaland

“Arthurs’s debut collection of short stories is an impressive, fully realized work that grapples with Jamaican womanhood. . . . Arthurs offers a compassionate response with these tender portraits of hard women, lost girls, and the people who love them.”—The Village Voice

“In vibrant, evocative prose, Arthurs brings these characters, and their varied experiences of a shared home, to life.”—BuzzFeed

“Alexia Arthurs is a writer of beauty, wit, and precision; these stories will grab you by the heart. This is a boss collection.”—NoViolet Bulawayo, author of We Need New Names

“This collection is brimming with tenderness, hard realities, and an intimacy that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.”—Ayana Mathis, author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

“Alexia Arthurs is a voice so many of us have been waiting for—funny, achingly specific, and wonderfully universal. She explores what it means to belong, what it means to recognize yourself in the most unexpected places, and what humans do with the pain of longing.”—Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of We Love You, Charlie Freeman

“Many of the stories in this accomplished debut collection about Jamaican immigrants take place in New York City and Midwest university towns, but Arthurs’s characters are haunted by memories of Jamaica and unfinished family business there. The thoughtful, yearning voices—women and men, younger and older—add up to a complex cultural portrait.”
—The New York Times Book Review, Paperback Row