Here Comes the Sun (Dennis-Benn)

Here Comes the Sun 
Nicole Dennis-Benn, 2016
Liveright Publishing
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781631491764


Summary
In this radiant, highly anticipated debut, a cast of unforgettable women battle for independence while a maelstrom of change threatens their Jamaican village...a tender hymn to a world hidden among pristine beaches and the wide expanse of turquoise seas.

At an opulent resort in Montego Bay, Margot hustles to send her younger sister, Thandi, to school. Taught as a girl to trade her sexuality for survival, Margot is ruthlessly determined to shield Thandi from the same fate.

When plans for a new hotel threaten their village, Margot sees not only an opportunity for her own financial independence but also perhaps a chance to admit a shocking secret: her forbidden love for another woman. As they face the impending destruction of their community, each woman—fighting to balance the burdens she shoulders with the freedom she craves—must confront long-hidden scars.

From a much-heralded new writer, Here Comes the Sun offers a dramatic glimpse into a vibrant, passionate world most outsiders see simply as paradise. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1981-82
• Where—Kingston, Jamaica
• Education—B.A., Cornell University; M.F.A., Sarah Lawrence College
• Currently—lives in Brooklyn, New York, USA


Nicole Dennis-Bann is a Jamaican writer whose debut novel, Here Comes the Sun, was published to wide acclaim in 2016. With eductional opportunities fairly limited at home, Dennis-Benn left Jamaica when she was 17 to attend Cornell Unviersity. As she told Diane Daniel of The New York Times,

My fmaily was working class, and it's very hard to move up. On topof that, with being a lesbian in a homophobic place, the U.S.s seemed the best choice.

She went on to earn her M.F.A., from Sara Lawrence College and now teaches writing at Baruch College in New York City, where she also lives with her wife.

Dennis-Benns's writing has appeared in Elle Magazine, Electric Literature, Lenny Letter, Catapult, Red Rock Review, Kweli Literary Journal, Mosaic, Ebony, and the Feminist Wire.

She was awarded a Richard and Julie Logsdon Fiction Prize, and two of her stories have been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize in Fiction. She has also received fellowships from the Sewanee Writers' Conference and Lambda Foundation, among others. (Adapted from the publisher.)

Book Reviews
[A] lithe, artfully-plotted debut....Margot is one of the reasons to read this book. She is a startling, deeply memorable character. All of Ms. Dennis-Benn’s women are. The author has a gift for creating chiaroscuro portraits, capturing both light and dark.... Here Comes the Sun is deceptively well-constructed, with slow and painful reveals right through the end.
Jennifer Senior - New York Times


One of the most stunningly beautiful novels in recent years…Dennis-Benn's writing is so assured, so gorgeous, that it's hard to believe Here Comes the Sun is a debut novel…it feels like a miracle.
Michael Schaub - NPR.org


Dennis-Benn writes movingly about the ways in which social distinctions and stigmas limit individual freedom, and the tradeoffs that keep fragile hopes alive.
Jane Ciabattari - BBC.com


Striking…Here Comes the Sun arrives in the season of the beach read, but with eloquent prose and unsentimental clarity, Dennis-Benn offers an excellent reason to look beyond the surface beauty of paradise. This novel is as bracing as a cold shower on a hot day
Connie Olge - Miami Herald


Betrayal, forbidden trysts, innocence lost: for two Jamaican sisters wrestling with identity and womanhood, life in a seemingly postcard-perfect paradise is a lot more complicated than it looks.
Cosmopolitan


Remember this title: It'll likely be the buzzword in all upcoming literary awards competitions.
Marie Claire


The novel, with its knife fights and baroque blackmail schemes, often threatens to stray from operatic intensity to soap opera melodrama. But Dennis-Benn redeems it with her striking portrayal of a vibrant community...[and]how shame whips desire into submission.
Publishers Weekly


Not for the faint of heart, as the women are often unlikable and their circumstances dire, but readers and book clubs interested in complicated characters and challenging themes will appreciate this first novel. —Pamela Mann, St. Mary's Coll. Lib., MD
Library Journal


Dennis-Benn reveals a sure hand, creating a world she knows well, while offering intimate portraits of characters readers will care deeply about even as their struggles lead to less than stellar choices. An impressive debut.
Booklist


(Starred review.) [A]n astute social commentary on the intricacies of race, gender, wealth inequality, colorism, and tourism.... Haunting and superbly crafted, this is a magical book from a writer of immense talent and intelligence.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher's questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use LitLovers talking points to kick off a discussion for Here Comes the Sun...then take off on your own:

1. Riding to work one day, Margot says, "Can't wait to leave dis godforsaken place." When the taxi driver says, "we live by di sea," Margot responds "This is not paradise. At least, not for us." Talk about the disparity between Jamaica's image as a tourist destination and Jamaica as a place to live for its residents. If you've visited Jamaica, or other Caribbean Islands, where you surprised by life portrayed in Here Comes the Sun?

2. What do you think of the three women characters—Dolores, Margot, and Thandi? The choices they make are problematic, to say the least. Can their choices be understood, even acceptable, given the dire poverty the women face?

3. (Follow-up to Question 2) What do you think of the "extra job" Margot undertakes in order to raise money for Thandi's schooling? What else does Margot do to get ahead. Is she blameworthy or can her choices be defended?

4. Dolores believes that in her culture a woman is valued for "what's between her legs." Is this a realistic assessment or a warped and cynical one?

5. What are the promises—and threats—of the proposed new hotel? Will it bring hoped for prosperity or only destruction of the village?

6. Discuss Thandi's decision to undergo skin bleaching and the hierarchy of race as explained by the woman who administers the skin treatment.

7. The book poses significant questions about greed and sacrifice, about being desperate in paradise. What are the many humiliations undergone in order to achieve security? What would any of us do—what would you do—in order to survive in a culture and economy like these women face?

7. Discuss homophobia in Jamaica. The author, herself a lesbian, chose to leave Jamaica rather than live in a hostile environment. What about Margot and Verdene? Will living in a gated community offer the protection Margot dreams of?

8. Given the desperate lives the women lead and the choices they make, do you find this book difficult to read? Is it simply too grim? Or does the writing—in particular, the depth of the characters and the complexity of the issues—redeem the book in your eyes? (There is no single or right answer to this question!)

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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