Here Comes the Sun: A Novel

An Amazon Best Book of July 2016:Here Comes the Sun is a brilliant, gut-punch of a debut novel. Set on the white sand beaches, resorts and shacks of Jamaica, Nicole Dennis-Benn tells the story of four Jamaican women as they struggle to find their independence amidst the sprawling resorts that both provide and threaten their livelihood. Margot is brash and brawny. She works at a hotel, hustling to ensure the guests are attended to in all manners of speaking. Her younger sister, Thandi. struggles with her identity as a black woman in a school full of white wealthy students. Their mother, Delores, is as unforgiving as she is brutal and her decisions will break your heart, as they did her daughter s. And then there s Verdene, a smart ostracized gay woman who is vilified for her sexuality. I fell hard for these characters for their defiance and vulnerability, for their grit and morally ambiguous choices and for the island-life that Nicole Dennis-Benn has captured. You can almost feel the hot stick of the sun while reading, the sweat of work and the incongruities of wealth and power, sexuality and love. Here Comes the Sun is a bright story about the dark side of tourism, sex and relationships, of getting ahead And you will tan from its rays. --Al Woodworth, The Amazon Book Review