Showing results for "Patsy" in Literary Fiction

From award-winning novelist Nicole Dennis-Benn comes this beautifully layered portrait of motherhood, immigration and sacrifice. Patsy yearns to escape the beautiful but impoverished Jamaican town where she was raised for a new life in New York and the chance to start afresh. Above all, she hopes to be reunited with her oldest friend, Cicely, and to rekindle their young love. But spreading her wings will come at a price: she must leave her five-year-old daughter, Tru, behind. And Patsy is soon confronted by the stark reality of life as an undocumented migrant in a hostile city.

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. Patsy gives voice to a woman who looks to America for the opportunity to choose herself first.

Patricia Garret and Shirley Martinez are both widowed and retired, and they each have a sweet tooth. One sunny day in Beach City, California, they make a run to the candy store. When they are ready to pay for their candy, they realize no one is at the register. They walk to the back of the store where they discover the body of the store’s owner, Robert Wilkins. He was struck over the head with a jar of jelly beans. They debate whether to call Patricia’s son, Byron Garret, who happens to be a detective, or to call 911.