What do you think?
Rate this book
Patsy
When Patsy gets her long-coveted visa to America, it comes after years of yearning to leave Pennyfield, the beautiful but impoverished Jamaican town where she was raised. More than anything, Patsy wishes to be reunited with her oldest friend, Cicely, whose letters arrive from New York steeped in the promise of a happier life and the possible rekindling of their young love. But Patsy’s plans don’t include her overzealous, evangelical mother―or even her five-year-old daughter, Tru.
Beating with the pulse of a long-witheld confession, Patsy gives voice to a woman who looks to America for the opportunity to choose herself first―not to give a better life to her family back home. Patsy leaves Tru behind in a defiant act of self-preservation, hoping for a new start where she can be, and love, whomever she wants. But when Patsy arrives in Brooklyn, America is not as Cicely’s treasured letters described; to survive as an undocumented immigrant, she is forced to work as a bathroom attendant and nanny. Meanwhile, Tru builds a faltering relationship with her father back in Jamaica, grappling with her own questions of identity and sexuality, and trying desperately to empathize with her mother’s decision.
Expertly evoking the jittery streets of New York and the languid rhythms of Jamaica, Patsy weaves between the lives of Patsy and Tru in vignettes spanning more than a decade as mother and daughter ultimately find a way back to one another.
Beating with the pulse of a long-witheld confession, Patsy gives voice to a woman who looks to America for the opportunity to choose herself first―not to give a better life to her family back home. Patsy leaves Tru behind in a defiant act of self-preservation, hoping for a new start where she can be, and love, whomever she wants. But when Patsy arrives in Brooklyn, America is not as Cicely’s treasured letters described; to survive as an undocumented immigrant, she is forced to work as a bathroom attendant and nanny. Meanwhile, Tru builds a faltering relationship with her father back in Jamaica, grappling with her own questions of identity and sexuality, and trying desperately to empathize with her mother’s decision.
Expertly evoking the jittery streets of New York and the languid rhythms of Jamaica, Patsy weaves between the lives of Patsy and Tru in vignettes spanning more than a decade as mother and daughter ultimately find a way back to one another.
419 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2019
About the author
Nicole Dennis-Benn
11 books1,185 followersNicole Dennis-Benn is the author of the novels PATSY (June 4, 2019), HERE COMES THE SUN (Liveright, 2016), and BLACK GOLD (Random House, 2027).
HERE COMES THE SUN was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and Notable Book of 2016. Recently, Here Comes the Sun was listed as a New York Times Most Notable Book of the decade. PATSY, her second novel, was a National Bestseller, a Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick and a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Both novels had appeared in over twenty-five “best books of the year” list, which included TIME, Oprah, People, NPR, among others. Nicole was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award, the New York Public Library Young Lions Award, The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, Pen/Faulkner Award in Fiction, and a two-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award Fiction Prize. She was a recipient of the Caribbean Icon Award and a Certificate of Honor from Lincoln Center Theater for her outstanding contribution to literature. Her books have remained as must-reads on various major lists since publication and have been translated into multiple languages. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Dennis-Benn is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. She is a Visiting Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Bryn Mawr College and lives with her wife and their two sons in Brooklyn.
HERE COMES THE SUN was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and Notable Book of 2016. Recently, Here Comes the Sun was listed as a New York Times Most Notable Book of the decade. PATSY, her second novel, was a National Bestseller, a Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick and a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Both novels had appeared in over twenty-five “best books of the year” list, which included TIME, Oprah, People, NPR, among others. Nicole was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award, the New York Public Library Young Lions Award, The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, Pen/Faulkner Award in Fiction, and a two-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award Fiction Prize. She was a recipient of the Caribbean Icon Award and a Certificate of Honor from Lincoln Center Theater for her outstanding contribution to literature. Her books have remained as must-reads on various major lists since publication and have been translated into multiple languages. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Dennis-Benn is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. She is a Visiting Associate Professor in Creative Writing at Bryn Mawr College and lives with her wife and their two sons in Brooklyn.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 23, 2022
一书于2019年出版，由牙买加女作家Nicole Dennis-Benn所著。此书是我游泳时认识的朋友推荐的，当我问及加勒比文学中优秀的当代女作家。
故事始于1998年。故事的女主人公Patsy是位单亲母亲，和五岁的女儿，狂热的基督徒母亲生活在金斯敦（牙买加首都）。她虽在政府部门任职，但微薄的薪水只勉强维持三人的生活。
那年她28岁，不甘心自己的人生就囿于此，便想方设法办下了去美国的旅游签。她乘上去纽约的飞机时，心里有着灿烂的美国梦；去没想到，一待便是十年，再没有回过家。她的旅游签证早已过期，因为没有合法的身份，她只能做些从前不屑的工作：餐厅里的保洁员，有钱人家的保姆…
小说是双线结构，叙述视角在Patsy 与她女儿Truth间不断切换。通过前者，我们看见一位黑人移民女性在20世纪末至21世纪初的纽约生活：因为种族，性别，性取向等因素所受到的歧视，陷入的困境，感到的失落，自我怀疑与绝望。而留在牙买加的Truth, 在缺失了亲生母亲陪伴的环境中成长，聪慧且敏感，脆弱又坚韧。
读这本书之前，我没有想到会在阅读的时候产生这么强的共鸣：
如果你曾去过签证中心，（无论是旅游，留学，工作，还是探亲访友等原因），或许你和我，和Patsy一样，都在那里感受过不同程度的紧张/焦虑/担心。
如果你出过国，来到一个说着不一样语言的国家，或许你也和我，和Patsy一样，有过这样的困境：因为签证的限制，找工作远远难于本国，或者找的工作可能不比国内。
但我想，或许任何离乡背井的人，受户口的限制，受当地政策的影响，或因为在一个陌生的城市，想要找到一份心仪的工作都并不容易。
无论你是在国外还是在另一个城市，或许无时无刻，或许偶尔，我们都会怀念家乡菜的味道。 里面有一个小细节，Patsy 在纽约时，认识了也是来自加勒比海国家的Claudette. 后者做了一道牛舌，前者尝了以后感叹：我离开家后，就再也没吃过如此正宗的牛舌了。
故事始于1998年。故事的女主人公Patsy是位单亲母亲，和五岁的女儿，狂热的基督徒母亲生活在金斯敦（牙买加首都）。她虽在政府部门任职，但微薄的薪水只勉强维持三人的生活。
那年她28岁，不甘心自己的人生就囿于此，便想方设法办下了去美国的旅游签。她乘上去纽约的飞机时，心里有着灿烂的美国梦；去没想到，一待便是十年，再没有回过家。她的旅游签证早已过期，因为没有合法的身份，她只能做些从前不屑的工作：餐厅里的保洁员，有钱人家的保姆…
小说是双线结构，叙述视角在Patsy 与她女儿Truth间不断切换。通过前者，我们看见一位黑人移民女性在20世纪末至21世纪初的纽约生活：因为种族，性别，性取向等因素所受到的歧视，陷入的困境，感到的失落，自我怀疑与绝望。而留在牙买加的Truth, 在缺失了亲生母亲陪伴的环境中成长，聪慧且敏感，脆弱又坚韧。
读这本书之前，我没有想到会在阅读的时候产生这么强的共鸣：
如果你曾去过签证中心，（无论是旅游，留学，工作，还是探亲访友等原因），或许你和我，和Patsy一样，都在那里感受过不同程度的紧张/焦虑/担心。
如果你出过国，来到一个说着不一样语言的国家，或许你也和我，和Patsy一样，有过这样的困境：因为签证的限制，找工作远远难于本国，或者找的工作可能不比国内。
但我想，或许任何离乡背井的人，受户口的限制，受当地政策的影响，或因为在一个陌生的城市，想要找到一份心仪的工作都并不容易。
无论你是在国外还是在另一个城市，或许无时无刻，或许偶尔，我们都会怀念家乡菜的味道。 里面有一个小细节，Patsy 在纽约时，认识了也是来自加勒比海国家的Claudette. 后者做了一道牛舌，前者尝了以后感叹：我离开家后，就再也没吃过如此正宗的牛舌了。
Displaying 1 of 1 review