Here Comes the Sun in Around the World in 80 Books

Apr 26, 2018 Lindsey Z rated it really liked it

This novel is hard-hitting from the first pages; Dennis-Benn tackles colorism and self-loathing (in what felt to me a similar yet somewhat more hopeful way than in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye), prostitution rings at high class resorts that cater to rich, white men from outside of Jamaica, neocolonialism, homophobia, classisim, and dysfunctional mother/daughter relationships. Make no mistake about it: this novel will break your heart. Margot and Thandi are the primary characters in the story a This novel is hard-hitting from the first pages; Dennis-Benn tackles colorism and self-loathing (in what felt to me a similar yet somewhat more hopeful way than in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye), prostitution rings at high class resorts that cater to rich, white men from outside of Jamaica, neocolonialism, homophobia, classisim, and dysfunctional mother/daughter relationships. Make no mistake about it: this novel will break your heart. Margot and Thandi are the primary characters in the story and the plot follows their oppressive lives as well as their deep ambitions to get out of the town in which they both grew up and the poverty that has blocked many opportunities they might otherwise have had. While Dennis-Benn doesn’t strike a fully hopeful balance, she does allow these two characters to, at least temporarily, feel real, unconditional love. And their love stories don’t take away from their own individual explorations of identity, which can often happen in novel. In fact, the novel explores classisim and homosexuality and their stigmas within Jamaican culture but champions the idea that true love is not only possible outside of heterosexual or familial relationships, but that it can take healthy place of those often failed relationships.

The various threads of this novel all intersected in clever yet not contrived ways in the end and Dennis-Benn’s force as a writer shines throughout her storytelling. For example, towards the beginning of the novel right after we learn that Thandi is chemically bleaching her skin to become lighter, she and her sister Margot sit on a couch that, like Thandi's’ skin, is covered in plastic. “Between Margot and Thandi are holes in the plastic, and the fading of what used to be beautiful upholstery fabric underneath.” This subtle yet effective metaphor is indicative of Dennis-Benn’s intentional and well-crafted writing; she never overworks or overreflects in her writing. She is in complete control. The symbol of the sun makes an appearance in a variety of ways; it never means just one thing and I appreciated how it anchored the visual and thematic elements of the novel. She also richly and fully captures the atmosphere of Jamaican culture, through her descriptions of landscape and local myths and through her frequent use of dialect, which I found quite readable and authentic. The beginning of this narrative was a little bit slowgoing for me; Dennis-Benn takes her time setting up her characters’ hopes, fears, and tensions with each other. As such, the beginning chapters are much longer than the shorter and must faster paced chapters towards the end. I do think this pacing worked well as a whole because the second half of the novel is dotted with many more compelling plot points that are driven by action and conflict than the first half is. I certainly recommend this novel for its story arc and themes but also for its portrayal of the struggles that many Jamaican women face. It doesn’t explicitly celebrate Jamaican culture which could be a turn off for some but I didn’t get the sense that Dennis-Benn was saying that Jamaica was terrible and everyone should leave; far from it. From what I can tell, this is Dennis-Benn’s first novel and it is definitely a stunning and triumphant debut.
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