Publishers Weekly
09/05/2022
The characters in Irving’s penetrating collection (after the novel Quint), many of whom are Jamaican Canadians, navigate the persistent hurdles of their family relationships as they attempt to build new lives while reckoning with the past. In “Waking Life,” Jamaican Canadian travel writer Po meets her Jamaican British mother, Janice, for the first time since early childhood, and her mother’s uncompromising independence fuels Po’s hope of keeping alive her own fragile romantic relationship. In “Canal,” a Jamaican Panamanian Canadian woman, Pilar, travels to Panama from Canada to settle her childhood maid’s affairs, realizing only as an adult that it was her maid’s history as a Holocaust survivor that shaped the fierce protection she gave Pilar during the 1965 riots that led to her family’s emigration. “It is hard to be the last one left,” Pilar thinks. Throughout, and in lucid prose, Irving depicts her characters’ chilly shocks over unexpected gaps in intimacy with their loved ones as they work to fit into non-immigrant Black spaces, making for stories that are both class-conscious and richly atmospheric. Irving’s inviting combination of subjects and style heralds a welcome new voice. Agent: Paul Lucas, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
A Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist
Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Longlisted for the 2023 New American Voices Award
Hurston Wright Legacy Award Nominee
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
The Millions, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year
"[An] electric collection . . . The collection teaches us what kinds of respites can be found in diaspora—fleeting, begrudging, but real nonetheless." —Brenda Peynado, The New York Times Book Review
"An expansive collection . . . For many of the characters, finding their place in the world, where they will be accepted and truly assimilate, is the running theme of their lives—the quintessential immigrant story, no matter where and when in time. I love this new voice giving life to Caribbean stories." —Keishel Williams, A NPR Best Book of the Year
"Immigration and assimilation are potent themes in novelist Dionne Irving's first collection of stories . . . From a mother at a posh school tasked with bringing food to International Day to a couple fleeing San Francisco, these tales from the 1950s to today, from Jamaica and Panama to the U.S and beyond, are written in accessible, warm prose that captivates the reader." —Zibby Owens, Good Morning America
"Irving navigates immigration, colonialism, issues of race and discrimination, and nuanced family relationships . . . though the subject matter of these 10 stories is serious, humor and humanness shine through." —Sarah Layden, Indianapolis Monthly
"[A] powerful debut short story collection." —Alison S. Cohn and Ariana Marsh, Harper's Bazaar
"As entertaining as it is gut wrenching, as enlightening as it is striking." —Jordan Snowden, Apartment Therapy
"A grand achievement . . . These twelve stories sing in their lyricism and complexity—a hallmark of an exciting new voice in literature." —Chicago Review of Books
“That rare short story collection that jumps from narrator to narrator, from place to place, from year to year, and still remains unified . . . [Her stories] suggest that sometimes a person might wish to be an island, to slough off from the mainland and stake out a tiny claim of space for themselves. Irving’s narrators insist that sometimes vows have run their course, that sometimes there’s no greater freedom than letting go." —Bekah Waalkes, Ploughshares
"Irving’s elegant prose and eye for the just perfect-unexpected detail pulled me in." —CJ Hauser, Electric Literature
"Deeply satisfying . . . Irving writes with an easy openness, her sentences seemingly straightforward, in stories with much that can be inferred between the lines: inequity, imbalance, erasure. She has a remarkable talent for understated, multilayered density that reveals stifling responsibilities, desperate dreams and fluttering hopes." —Shelf Awareness
"In a series of 12 stories as sparkling and sharp-edged as cut diamonds, Irving explores the multifaceted experiences of Jamaican expats . . . Irving wields the written word as a sharp-tooled instrument, incising the lasting effects of colonialism and family dysfunction." —Booklist (starred review)
"In this assured collection, Canadian writer Irving follows the threads of colonialism, exile, and immigration throughout the 20th and 21st centuries . . . The international range and scope of her collection give it breadth and freshness . . . Her prose is smooth and unfussy." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] penetrating collection . . . In lucid prose, Irving depicts her characters’ chilly shocks over unexpected gaps in intimacy with their loved ones as they work to fit into non-immigrant Black spaces, making for stories that are both class-conscious and richly atmospheric. Irving’s inviting combination of subjects and style heralds a welcome new voice." —Publishers Weekly
"Dionne Irving's groundbreaking debut collection is as insightful as it is unflinching. At times humorous and at times heartbreaking, The Islands illuminates the complex history and current condition of the far-flung Jamaican diaspora, bringing it to the page as it's never before been seen. Cultures collide between and within households, between and within characters, making for compelling stories about identity and belonging. An unforgettable read and a balm for anyone still searching for home." —Jonathon Escoffery, author of If I Survive You
"The stories in The Islands are darkly comic, raw, and boldly propulsive. Irving is attentive to the inner landscapes of the women who leave the Island in search of a place where they can be distinctly themselves, unmediated by the legacies of colonialism. The Islands is a radiant, at times surreal, and complex meditation on identity and the tragic absurdity of the search for home." —Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi, author of Savage Tongues
New York Times Book Review
The collection teaches us what kinds of respites can be found in diaspora—fleeting, begrudging, but real nonetheless.”
NPR
The quintessential immigrant story, no matter where and when in time. I love this new voice giving life to Caribbean stories.”
Kirkus Reviews
2022-08-17
An expansive collection of stories chronicling the Jamaican diaspora.
In this assured collection, Canadian writer Irving follows the threads of colonialism, exile, and immigration throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. “Canal” connects Jamaica, Panama, postwar Germany, and Canada through the figure of a girl forced to flee as a result of American intervention. In “The Gifts,” the book’s moving penultimate installment, a young woman named Peaches moves to “Foreign” (England) to find work and winds up serving as both maid and mistress in the same family. Irving’s writing is most effective when she homes in on a smaller domestic scene—for instance, the mismatched married couple in “The Cape” is divided by age and a sudden injury—but the international range and scope of her collection give it breadth and freshness. Despite the book's wide range of locales, Irving's writing of place always feels assured. Her prose is smooth and unfussy despite occasional clunky sentences (“When he gets home she will be broken. Not by him, but in spite of him”). Although the collection is enjoyable, Irving’s construction of narrative can sometimes feel predictable: In several stories, characters are first presented one way—racist hicks; an earnest but clueless White mother; a long-lost parent—only for Irving to introduce a shift in perspective that encourages the reader not to judge so hastily. But a careful reader (or a frequent reader of short story collections) will soon become familiar with this convention, and instead of leading to a feeling of real enlightenment, the stories will feel tired. Irving is at her best in odd, harsh moments: a gruesome fireworks injury in “The Cape”; an estranged father stealing a pig for his daughter in “Weaving.”
A first collection that hints at bigger things to come.
