By Love Possessed

Love, pride, loneliness, and poverty are set to the rhythms of Jamaican life in 22 short stories by acclaimed poet and writer Goodison (From Harvey River, a memoir). In “Bella Makes Life,” Joseph doesn’t know what to make of his wife, Bella, who returns from Brooklyn dressed like a Checker cab and newly obsessed with making money; she’s tired of “box feeding outta hog mouth”—the lowest level of existence. An ex-Communist prisoner uses breathing exercises learned from a fallen comrade to get through each day, in “For My Comrades Wearing Three-Piece Suits.” Anna, in “Mi Amiga Gran,” wonders if she’ll become a “worthless, bruk-down skettel,” living on the street if her mother fails to send the rent money from America. Sylvie, seven months pregnant, questions the ethics of attending church to receive food and clothing she desperately needs, in “God’s Help.” Wonderfully colorful Jamaican patois is interspersed throughout, reflecting subtle changes of class and origin in each character’s voice. Stories of love are overly precious and lack the frank sincerity that Goodison exhibits when writing about poverty, despair, and the illusions we create that can become our salvation—or our demise. Agent: Ron Eckel, the Cooke Agency International. (June)