Songs of Irie by Asha Ashanti Bromfield
400 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books
Release Date: October 10, 2023
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Jamaica, Protests, Reggae, LGBTQIA+
The book begins in summer 1976 in Jamaica. Irie lives in the ghetto but attended an affluent high school on a scholarship. Her friend Jilly is light skinned from a wealthy family. Where Irie’s options for her future was limited, Jilly had Cambridge University and engagement to a politician’s son. The two young women were so different but found common ground through music. Their friendship is in the middle of the island revolution with an election looming in the coming weeks. Guns and shooting attacks are happening all around them. Irie uses the only weapon she has, her voice.
The book has fast but steady pace, the two major characters are developed, and it is written in the first-person point of view from different perspectives. It is a gritty book and the women put themselves in harrowing situations. Although there is a lot of violence, it is written with deep emotion making the reader feel a part of the story. If you like historical fiction or reggae music, you may enjoy this book.
