“patsy” is the story of a queer immigrant black woman

One way to live out loud is to write complex stories about people who aren’t often afforded the attention and empathy they deserve in literature. Jamaican novelist Nicole Dennis-Benn’s new book, Patsy, does just this. The story follows her critically-acclaimed debut novel, Here Comes The Sun.

Patsy is the story of a mother who leaves her 5-year-old daughter in Jamaica in pursuit of better opportunities in New York and a reunion with an old lover. In addition to the trials of being separated from her daughter, she juggles being an undocumented worker and as well as figuring out her sexual identity. This story is refreshing. It does not center a woman’s choice to do what she needs to do for herself around guilt. Instead, it is liberating and a fresh outlook on those who leave home to look for more because they owe it to themselves. Often women need excuses but not this time. “Patsy gives voice to a woman who looks to America not to give a better life to her family back home, but instead for the opportunity to choose herself first.”

This is the story of a queer immigrant Black woman who puts herself first. Here’s to more unapologetically radical stories like this one.

Purchase Patsy Here.