Reviewed Work: The True History of Paradise by Margaret Cezair-Thompson

ExcerptMargaret Cezair-Thompson was born in Jamaica and now lives in the United States, where she teaches creative writing and literature. Although she has not published widely, she has been a creative writer for many years, and her work includes prose, screenplays, and poetry. The True History of Paradise is Cezair- Thompson's stunning debut novel, and it is set in Jamaica during the early 1980s amid the violence and political upheaval which marked that period in Jamaican history. The novel centers on a young Jamaican woman, Jean Landing, and her large, multiethnic family. Under increasing emotional and political pressure, Jean decides to migrate from Jamaica, and the novel traces her journey across the island and its lush tropical landscape to the airstrip from which she will depart.