Broughtupsy: A Novel | Christina Cooke
Broughtupsy takes intersectionality and gives it a face, name, and head full of braids in this brilliant exploration of identity and love. Akúa is returning home to Jamaica for the first time in ten years. Her younger brother has died suddenly, and Akúa hopes to reconnect with her estranged older sister, Tamika. Over two fateful weeks, the sisters visit significant places from their childhood—the home they grew up in, their mother’s grave, and a neighbourhood beach—where Akúa spreads her brother’s ashes. But time spent with Tamika only seems to make apparent how different they are and how alone Akúa feels. Then Akúa meets Jayda, a brash stripper who reveals a different side of Kingston. As the two women grow closer, Akúa is forced to confront the difficult reality of being gay in a deeply religious family, and what it means to be a gay woman in Jamaica. Her trip comes to a frenzied and dangerous end, but not without a glimmer of hope of how to find peace with her sister—and herself. By turns diasporic family saga, bildungsroman, and terse sexual awakening, this is a moving debut novel that asks what we’re willing to do for family, and what we’re willing to do to feel at home.
Broughtupsy: A Novel | 
