A review by happilynappyme
The Day I Fell Off My Island by Yvonne Bailey-Smith

4.0

I had NO idea that Zadie Smith’s mother wrote this coming of age immigrant story. How immensely proud she must be of her mother. I don’t know if everyone will appreciate this book the way I did but this book deeply moved me. It made me think of all the experiences of my mother and grandmother who migrated to the states and how hard that must have been , leaving a beautiful island beautiful people and beautiful simplicity to the coldness of a new world. I saw my family in every one of the characters in the book. Smith’s descriptions of simple country life in Jamaica from the smells to the color of the soil transported me back to my own childhood summers there , playing between my grandfather’s mango and ackee trees. There is a lot of heartbreaking parts to this novel , but you walk away giving ALMOST everyone grace , even the main character’s biological father.