What Start Bad a Mornin'
A Novel
Carol Mitchell
- Using
- interwoven
- narratives
- —
- present-day
- United
- States,
- Trinidad,
- and
- the
- political
- tumult
- of
- Jamaica
- in
- the
- 1980s
- —
- Carol
- Mitchell's
- debut
- gives
- voice
- to
- the
- immigrant
- woman
- whose
- veneer
- of
- middle-class
- stability
- masks
- the
- violent
- trauma
- of
- a
- prior
- life."An
- engaging
- and
- life-affirming
- read.”
- —
- Booklist"What
- start
- bad
- a
- mornin',
- cyan
- end
- good
- a
- evenin'."
- —
- Jamaican
- proverbAmaya
- Lin
- has
- few
- memories
- of
- the
- years
- before
- she
- turned
- eighteen.
- Now
- in
- her
- forties,
- she
- has
- compensated
- by
- carefully
- cultivating
- a
- satisfying
- life
- as
- a
- wife,
- mother,
- and
- business
- professional.
- Her
- husband’s
- law
- practice
- is
- on
- the
- brink
- of
- major
- success;
- her
- neurodiverse
- son
- has
- grown
- into
- an
- independent
- adult;
- and
- she
- has
- come
- to
- terms
- with
- her
- aunt’s
- dementia.
- This
- sense
- of
- order
- is
- disrupted,
- however,
- when
- she
- encounters
- a
- stranger
- who
- claims
- to
- have
- an
- impossible
- connection,
- launching
- Amaya
- on
- a
- tumultuous
- journey
- into
- the
- past.Using
- three
- interwoven
- narratives
- spanning
- the
- United
- States,
- Trinidad,
- and
- Jamaica,
- Carol
- Mitchell's
- debut
- gives
- voice
- to
- an
- immigrant
- woman
- forced
- to
- confront
- her
- repressed
- memories
- of
- violent
- trauma.
- Only
- then
- can
- she
- discover
- what
- she
- is
- capable
- of
- when
- it
- comes
- to
- self-preservation
- and
- the
- protection
- of
- her
- family."This
- is
- a
- stellar
- debut.”
- —
- Cleyvis
- Natera,
- author
- of
- Neruda
- on
- the
- Park
"Luminous
- prose."
- —Elizabeth
- Nunez,
- author
- of
- Prospero’s Daughter
pro-mbooks3 : libris
