The True History of Paradise

From the acclaimed author of THE PIRATE'S DAUGHTER comes a story of three women born into the divided, troubled paradise of Jamaica.

Easter, 1981. With Jamaica in a state of emergency, the Landing family gathers to bury one of its own. For Monica Landing, who had not spoken to her daughter for fifteen years, the death of Lana is the cruellest kind of loss. For Lana's youngest sister, Jean, it is an incomprehensible tragedy. All she knows is that her beloved homeland holds no future for her. But flight means crossing a landscape where soldiers turned executioners and armed gangs rule. It means making her way through the memories that engulf her, with perhaps the only man she has ever loved by her side. THE TRUE HISTORY OF PARADISE captures the grace, beauty and brutality that are indelible parts of the Jamaican experience.

“'Skilfully crafted... marvellously evocative... conveys a vivid sense of many worlds folded into one'”

Skilfully crafted... marvellously evocative... conveys a vivid sense of many worlds folded into one - Washington Post

Authentic... convincing... Cezair-Thompson writes with talent, grace and confidence - New York Times Book Review

Margaret Cezair-Thompson was born and raised in Jamaica, West Indies. Her first novel, THE TRUE HISTORY OF PARADISE, was published in 1999, and was shortlisted for the IMPAC Award; her second, THE PIRATE'S DAUGHTER, won the first ever Essence Literary Award for Fiction. She is a professor of English at Wellesley College, and lives in Massachusetts.

From the acclaimed author of THE PIRATE'S DAUGHTER comes a story of three women born into the divided, troubled paradise of Jamaica.Easter, 1981. With Jamaica in a state of emergency, the Landing family gathers to bury one of its own. For Monica Landing, who had not spoken to her daughter for fifteen years, the death of Lana is the cruellest kind of loss. For Lana's youngest sister, Jean, it is an incomprehensible tragedy. All she knows is that her beloved homeland holds no future for her. But flight means crossing a landscape where soldiers turned executioners and armed gangs rule. It means making her way through the memories that engulf her, with perhaps the only man she has ever loved by her side. THE TRUE HISTORY OF PARADISE captures the grace, beauty and brutality that are indelible parts of the Jamaican experience.

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